Movie Review: In the elated ‘Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,’ every seat is the best seat in the house

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” film is a near exact replica of her blockbuster concert performance, which recaps all 10 of her studio albums across 17 years of recorded work. There will be no narrative breaks, no behind-the-scenes footage, no additional ornamentation of the monolithic set (with the exception of a few CGI effects and album title cards to introduce each epoch.) The film delivers on the promise of its title: this is the “Eras” tour in full — conveniently viewable at an AMC theater near you.

For those who’ve managed to snag tickets to the “Eras” tour concert, it is the ability to relive the experience, likely with loved ones who weren’t as lucky. For those who didn’t attend, it’s a chance to test expectations versus reality. But for everyone, it is the opportunity to have every seat in the house transform into the best seat in the house. “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is all up close and personal footage from every vantage point, courtesy of Sam Wrench, who shot and directed it.

Where else but in this film can you be placed inches from Swift’s moss-covered “evermore” album-era piano as she introduces “Champagne Problems” — so close as to examine phalanges as they press down on the final notes of the song’s coda? And where else does it sound this good, highlighting sonic details that might’ve been missed in the stadium setting? 

Edits to the 3½-hour concert production are few on screen. Costume changes are cut down. Some songs are snipped. On stage banter, too, is limited, mostly reserved for humor and exposition.

A very different viewing experience, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is meant to be enjoyed communally — a shout-along affair where fans in bespoke cosplay can dance and sing and film the screen on their smartphones, breaking the rules of the traditional moviegoing experience. Strangers become friends. And all the while, feeling closer to Swift than ever before.

(“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is rated PG-13 for some strong language and suggestive material.)