One Direction was the biggest teen pop machine since NSYNC—but Louis Tomlinson was the one you never noticed.
This doc rewinds the band’s rise, then zooms in on what happened when the quiet one finally took the mic.
I found this one from Rania Aniftos of Billboard.
Trailer for “Louis Tomlinson: All of Those Voices”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Louis plays his first solo gig at the 1,500-capacity Scala in March 2020—just ten days before COVID shuts everything down. Two years later, he rebuilds the entire tour from scratch, unsure if anyone will show up.
- He grapples with quitting music altogether after losing both his mom (2016) and sister Félicité (2019), who died suddenly at age 18 of an accidental overdose.
Watch “Louis Tomlinson: All of Those Voices”
You can watch “Louis Tomlinson: All of Those Voices” with a subscription to MTV via JustWatch.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 93/100
- IMDB Rating: 8.6/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 99/100 (Users); not yet rated (Critics)
Director’s Note: Charlie Lightening also directed “As It Was” about Liam Gallagher. He leans heavily on immersive tour footage and first-person storytelling. The doc’s strength is that it avoids puff-piece editing and shows the loneliness, doubt, and grief that shaped Louis’s post-1D career. This one feels lived in.
Release Date: March 22, 2023 (UK theatrical)
My Review of “Louis Tomlinson: All of Those Voices”
The Setup
This is not a One Direction puff piece. It’s a solo rebuild doc about the quietest member of the world’s biggest boyband trying to prove he belongs in music without the machine behind him. You get heartbreak, self-doubt, and small club shows that somehow lead to screaming arenas.
More Highlights from the Doc
- The early parts show just how much Louis contributed behind-the-scenes to 1D’s songwriting—he co-wrote more songs than any other member but was barely in the spotlight.
- Louis openly calls himself “the least important” member of One Direction. But we watch him go from that to 18,000 fans screaming songs he wrote alone in Doncaster bedrooms.
- Director Charlie Lightening uses fly-on-the-wall footage, letting us see Louis spiral privately while trying to mount a solo career—and then re-emerge with purpose.
- Scenes of him with fans (especially at album signings) show a totally different energy. He’s deeply connected to the people who stuck with him post-1D, often knowing them by name.
- Watching the contrast between his nervous first gig and his confident 2022 tour (where fans scream back lyrics he wrote solo) gives the doc real emotional payoff.
Cameos
- Steve Aoki pops up in the doc. He collaborated with Louis on “Just Hold On,” his first solo single, which hit No. 2 on the UK charts the week his mom died.
- Isaac Anderson (Louis’s touring guitarist) appears frequently as part of the band and support system during his solo career restart.
Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Louis reveals that when One Direction first split, he considered becoming a judge on The X Factor instead of trying solo music. He truly wasn’t sure he had a voice without the group.
- He still writes in Doncaster, sometimes at his childhood home. The film includes audio of early voice memos recorded there that became full stadium anthems.
- The doc doesn’t lean on big names or celebrity interviews—it’s almost entirely Louis’s own voice, supported by personal archive footage, handwritten lyrics, and tour footage.
Wrap Up
This one’s for the fans who always felt Louis never got his due. It’s a raw, unpolished look at grief, doubt, and the long road to believing in yourself again.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc