Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour movie takes the singer-songwriter’s record-breaking concert series and brings it to the silver screen — though the film isn’t a full three-hour concert. Unlike its live event counterpart, The Eras Tour movie leaves a few of Swift’s biggest songs on the cutting room floor. Even so, it’s not enough to incite any “Bad Blood” among fans; the concert movie is packed with all the spectacle, nostalgia, and thrills of Swift’s soon-to-be-billion-dollar-earning Eras Tour. With Taylor Swift being at the center of one of the year’s last great blockbusters, there’s no doubt both Swifties and casual fans alike will find themselves scream-singing in theaters.
The cinematic version of Swift’s staggering three-hour performance clocks in at around 169 minutes. A journey through the artist’s 10-album musical past and present, The Eras Tour movie fulfills every Taylor Swift fan’s “Wildest Dreams.” With a $39 million opening day and opening weekend projections that put the film ahead of Fast X and John Wick 4, Swift’s film is a true blockbuster success. Not to mention, The Eras Tour even scared off five other movies from releasing on October 13. The Eras Tour movie is the cherry on top of an ultra-successful year for Taylor Swift — and every song in the film reiterates that she’s not just a beloved musician, but a global pop icon.
1 Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
The opening song on Swift’s Eras Tour, “Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince” comes from Swift’s seventh studio album, Lover. With a lyric that boasts, “It’s you and me, that’s my whole world” and a decidedly upbeat energy, it’s hard to argue with this song’s position as the concert opener. Plus, the Lover era’s positioning allows Swift to pay proper homage to the 2020 concert tour that never happened.
2 Cruel Summer
One of Swift’s biggest releases in recent years, “Cruel Summer” also comes off Lover. The chart-topping radio hit is not only easy to sing along to, with an incredibly catchy chorus that every audience member is sure to know, but it’s also the first narrative-driven track on the Eras Tour setlist.
3 The Man
After enjoying much-deserved applause from the audience at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, Swift playfully acknowledges that all the adoration might just go to her head. The cheers are making her feel like “The Man,” she says, before launching into the Lover track of the same name. A fun bit of staging sees the singer kicking her bedazzled boots up in an office cubicle, all while rocking a shiny silver blazer that’s an ode to Taylor Swift’s iconic music video for “The Man.”
4 You Need To Calm Down
The penultimate song off of Lover, “You Need to Calm Down” is a divisive one. Like so many of Swift’s singles, it feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the album (though it’s certainly a marked improvement over “ME!”). Even so, there’s no denying that the song makes for a great live performance. With a catchy chorus and plenty of opportunities for Swift to pull some theatrical, it’s a welcome addition to the setlist.
5 Lover
To close out the Lover era, Swift plays the album’s title song on an appropriately pink guitar. The twangs of the sweet, slow-burn love song are a welcome break from the blood-pumping tracks that opened the concert. Not to mention, “Lover” allows Swift to transition pretty seamlessly into another acoustic guitar-driven era — Fearless.
6 Fearless
After a quick costume change, Swift bounces back on stage wearing a gold-and-silver dress and strumming a sparkly silver guitar, all of which recalls the singer’s Fearless era. Swift opens the shorter chapter in the show with the title track, inviting long-time Swifties to belt out the radio hit’s catchy chorus alongside her.
7 You Belong With Me
It’s anything but a “typical Tuesday” night when fans get to sing along with Taylor Swift to her classic “You Belong With Me.” If you weren’t lucky enough to snag a seat in the bleachers (or elsewhere) on the Eras Tour, Swift makes moviegoers feel like proper cheer captains while singing this one — a song that’s sure to put a smile on every viewer’s face.
8 Love Story
Another early career-defining hit, “Love Story” consumed the airwaves upon its release, becoming a love-it-or-hate-it track for many. With its very country feel, the song captures the feeling of first love — and the desire to turn it into a fairy tale — perfectly. Watching Swift perform it all these years later, with hindsight and wisdom, is even more exciting.
9 Willow
After closing out the Fearless era, Swift returns to the stage with a completely different vibe. To sell “willow,” the lead single off her ninth studio album, evermore, Swift dresses in a witchy green cloak, surrounded by her coven of orb-toting witches. The backdrop of mist-laden pine trees only furthers this song’s remarkable visuals, making “willow” a truly stand-out moment.
10 Marjorie
While not a chart-topper, “Marjorie” is one of Swift’s most deeply personal songs — and a clear fan-favorite track. An ode to her late grandmother, “Marjorie” sees the singer giving one of her most emotional performances of the night, which is made all the more intimate by the fact that the SoFi audience holds their lit phones high, like candles, and sways to the melancholy tune.
11 Champagne Problems
The evermore era is full of memorable moments, and none of them miss the mark. After singing solo in the glow of the audience’s lights during “Marjorie,” Swift sits down at a moss-covered piano for one of the album’s most beloved tracks, “champagne problems.” While the artist is known for her mastery of a good bridge, “champagne problems” probably has one of the most fun ones to belt out in a theater full of Swifties.
12 Tolerate It
To close out the evermore era, Swift returns to the heavy staging of “willow,” but strips things down a bit. Instead of playing in a witchy forest, Swift sings the heart-wrenching “tolerate it” to a soon-to-be ex-partner. Sitting across from him at a long dinner table, Swift captures the emotional distance of the song perfectly — and the drama of her swiping items off the furniture and then crawling toward the other actor is just great.
13 … Ready For It?
There’s simply no other way to open the Reputation era. “…Ready For It?” will have viewers standing up in the theater chanting, “let the games begin!” as if Swift hasn’t already been playing for over an hour. While Reputation received mixed reactions upon its release, there’s no doubt that some of its songs were made for a stadium tour.
14 Delicate
One of Swift’s most beloved songs off of Reputation, her sixth studio album, “Delicate” is about a burgeoning relationship — one that Swift wants to start quickly, but without scaring off her partner-to-be. The track perfectly captures that flutter of anticipation and excitement, and it’s hard not to grin while singing along with Swift.
15 Don’t Blame Me
“Lord, save me, my drug is my baby/ I’ll be usin’ for the rest of my life,” Swift belts in “Don’t Blame Me,” the penultimate song of the Reputation era. Again, this is one of those tracks that was written to be sung live in front of a massive audience and finds Swift digging deep to provide a vocally charged performance.
16 Look What You Made Me Do
The last song in the Reputation era is one of the highlights of Taylor Swift’s: The Eras Tour movie. “Look What You Made Me Do,” the lead single off the album, sees Swift singing about her new self — while her past self bang on glass cages. It’s an incredibly fun trip through the eras of Taylor Swift’s career (and her most memorable looks) and the backup dancers help make this number soar.
17 Enchanted
The only song Swift delivers from the Speak Now era, “Enchanted” is, simply put, an enchanting performance. With purple lighting and a periwinkle princess-like dress, Swift sings the beautiful 2010 song in one of the concert’s softer moments. It’s a much-needed comedown that’s perfectly sandwiched between Reputation and Red.
18 22
Swift kicks off the Red era with her chart-topping “22” — and, for those in the audience, it really will “feel like the perfect night.” An infectious track, “22” sees Swift donning her iconic black bowler cap as well as a white T-shirt that references one of the song’s more funny moments.
19 We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
Keeping the “22” look, Swift launches into “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” a seminal breakup song from the hit album. Swift and her fellow performers are having some of the most fun of the night singing and dancing to the string of Red hits, which makes the experience all the more entertaining for viewers.
20 I Knew You Were Trouble
The last of Red‘s big, chart-topping dance hits, “I Knew You Were Trouble” rounds out the trifecta of the album’s most recognizable, most-played tracks. Again, Swift and the Eras Tour performers have a lot of fun with this one, playing into the over-the-top drama of the lyrics in a very tongue-in-cheek way.
