Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

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Jonathan K My only real complaint is that it ended kind of abruptly (maybe fitting, in a dark sort of way), but otherwise, this documentary is ridiculously good. It's not just a doc; it's a whole piece of art in itself. The way it weaves together different formats -- journals, drawings, lyrics, old footage, rotoscope-style animations, interviews, audio clips -- it's varied yet cohesive. It's a tribute, sure, but not the sanitized, aggrandizing kind. It feels troubled and tragic. A beautiful mess, an occasionally drug-soaked tale, of a remembrance for someone who genuinely changed music. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/03/25 Full Review Documom D Watching this film in 2025, I have a lot of mixed emotions. The film is stunningly made. The editing is a wonder and the storyline supports it's 2 hour length (hard to do in documentary without it feeling "long."). It is a tragic story that is at once repulsive and compulsively watchable. But witnessing the crowds at Cobain's concerts - filled with mostly angry, disaffected, young white men - stadiums full of them - riled up into a frenzy on Nirvana's testosterone-driven music, I couldn't help but wonder which one(s) of them would take up an AR-15 to a school, church, or mall and just start shooting. It's no wonder that Donald Trump is now President and that isolated, under-employed, grievance-filled white men have our nation in a strangle-hold. They were forming themselves 10 years ago into a powerful force devoted to self and societal destruction at Cobain's concerts. Morgen didn't know he was documenting the roots of societal change, but he was. And he did it brilliantly. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/15/25 Full Review Pete B This one hits hard. It’s raw, sometimes uncomfortable, but also really intimate. The animation sequences are such a cool touch, and you really feel like you’re inside Cobain’s head at times. Not always an easy watch, but definitely powerful. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/25/25 Full Review Martijn t This is a sort of authorized documentary - Cobain's daughter Frances is an executive producer - so Morgen had access to a lot of Cobain's personal notebooks, video and recordings, both personal and music. He uses a lot of them, sometimes aided by great animations by Hisko Hulsing (Undone). However, although Morgen has access to all of Nirvana's music and uses a lot of it (a good thing), the focus of the documentary is completely on 'Kurt Cobain, mental health patient'. The only band member that in the documentary is Krist Novoselic, but he never gets to talk about Cobain's artistic process. All of Nirvana's success is discusses in terms chart positions and crowd size, never on artistic merits. After watching this documentary you wouldn't even know Nirvana's debut album is called Bleach. Worse is that the line between 'intimate' and 'voyeuristic' got crossed several times for me. Morgen just shows very intimate diary writings and home video for the emotional effect, even though he also makes clear that if there is one thing Cobain hated, it was journalists digging in his private life. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/12/25 Full Review Oaklee D A decent documentary. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/18/24 Full Review Audience Member That was quite a ride. I liked it a lot. Sometimes this film tries to not only show how Cobain felt in a particular moment, but also it tries to make feel in the same way he did. I think that's very cool. If you are interested in Nirvana and therefore Cobain, give it a watch. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck

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