Film

Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

Name: Foo Fighters: Back and Forth
Genre: Documentary, Music
Released: 2011
Cast: Dave Grohl, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel

Musical
Light-hearted

Dave Grohl's love letter to his own band, chronicling Foo Fighters from bedroom demos to stadium anthems. Directed by James Carpenter with infectious warmth, it's less forensic analysis than a long conversation with an old friend—funny, occasionally self-aware about its own mythology-making. For anyone who's felt the band's songs in their bones, or curious how a Nirvana drummer became a rock institution.

TMDb rating

3.8

If you liked this

Searching for Sugar Man2012

Oscar-winning doc about the mysterious Sixto Rodriguez, a cult musician who had no idea his records sold millions. It shares that same sense of tracing a musical journey through time, told with genuine affection and surprise revelations.

But Slower paced and more melancholic than you might expect. It's a mystery, not a triumphal march, and some find the plot resolution underwhelming.

The Wrecking Crew2026

Documents the session musicians who secretly played on most of the biggest hits of the 60s and 70s. It has the same spirit of celebration—honoring the architecture beneath the monuments—but with more archival breadth.

But Heavy on talking heads and less cinematic dynamism. Some sequences feel like a well-made TV special rather than a theatrical experience.

It Might Get Loud2008

Three generations of guitar giants (Page, The Edge, Jack White) in one room. Intimate, nerdy about the craft, full of that same infectious enthusiasm about what makes music matter.

But More philosophical than technical—if you're waiting for shredding breakdowns, you'll be disappointed. Some find it indulgent.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil2008

Both films use a band's relationship to itself as the real subject. Back and Forth asks: how do you stay hungry when you've won? Anvil asks: what keeps you going when you haven't? They're opposite sides of the same obsession.

The wildcard that works like a mirror: a band that never made it, still trying after thirty years. Grohl and Foo Fighters are the success story; this is what happens when lightning doesn't strike. It's funny, heartbreaking, and asks harder questions about ambition and love than any triumphalist doc dares.

But Sympathetic but not sentimental. Watching a band fail repeatedly tests your patience, and the film doesn't resolve the moral question it raises.

Cobain: Montage of Heck2015

Brett Morgen's animated documentary about Nirvana's frontman offers the shadow history to Back and Forth. It's brilliant, crushing, and essential context for understanding Grohl's entire trajectory.

But Deeply heavy. It's about depression, addiction, and suicide. Watching it immediately after the Foo Fighters doc can feel tonally jarring.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster2004

Metallica's therapy sessions turned documentary—raw, unflinching look at a band fracturing and rebuilding. Shows the other side of what Back and Forth carefully curates.

But Three and a half hours of grown men arguing. It's gripping but relentless, and the resolution is incomplete.

Woodstock1970

Michael Wadleigh's definitive festival film captures the mythology-making impulse that Back and Forth also toys with. Watching it reminds you why these documents matter.

But Fifty-plus years old, three hours long, and dated aesthetically. The mystique around Woodstock has curdled somewhat since release.

Sound City2013

Grohl-adjacent actually—he directed and scored this doc about a legendary recording studio. Same reverent but personable tone about the places where magic happens.

But Feels like a very expensive vanity project. The studio's story, while interesting, doesn't have enough narrative momentum to sustain feature length.

The Punk Singer2013

Both emerge from the same Seattle moment, but The Punk Singer asks the questions Back and Forth doesn't: What did you sacrifice to succeed? Is that success worth it? Is it actually success?

Documentary about Kathleen Hanna and Bikini Kill, the riot grrrl movement that shared DNA with grunge. But where Back and Forth is triumphalist, this is about people who explicitly rejected the rock-star machinery. It's political, angry, and deeply uncertain about legacy and compromise.

But Deliberately antagonistic to easy narratives. If you want straightforward inspiration, this will frustrate you. Also much lower budget than Back and Forth.