‘Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade’ Review – When Celebrities Defined Counterculture

When does talking about an idol become redundant and fail to ignite fruitful conversations? When the discourse about their art is dull and rhetorical, it fails to provoke any form of intellectually stimulating conversation. With Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade, director Alan G. Parker proves that John Lennon’s life still has a lot to offer for history buffs and admirers of the late peace advocate who will grace screens again in the most anticipated of Sam Mendes’ unnamed four Beatles biopics, played reportedly by the ever charming Harris Dickinson.

No one is more enigmatic than John Lennon, and his murder remains a mystery even 45 years after his death. Parker, an expert in interviewing celebrity musicians and artists, deciphers that puzzle with his documentary. His films have been nominated for multiple Emmy awards. His journey through the sinews of the music industry resulted in some solid research work, translated to the screen as deep dives into the lives of Sex Pistols band members, Monty Python, and The Beatles.

In Borrowed Time, Parker stays in familiar territory: Music. To be specific, he stays in his favorite lane of chasing The Beatles’ stories, particularly their enigmatic, gone-too-soon leader John Lennon. The film focuses partly on his divisive relationship with Japanese artist Yoko Ono and the kind of storm it caused back in the day. Said in the words of journalists, musicians, and close friends who lived through these times with Ono and Lennon. He doesn’t try to glorify any of it. But through the interviews, we get glimpses into the dark side of celebrity life, and how flawed and fractured those idols we love are. Parker doesn’t hide anything. Through bearing all there is about Lennon–the good, the bad, and the ugly–we are introduced to the enigma in all its manifestations, but also deconstructing that mannequin of mega fame and power.

Parker excels in highlighting why Lennon deserved to have a persona beyond his Beatles identity. Being the true researcher he is, he uses multiple rare footage, including clips, interviews, and archival material. It’s no wonder Lennon has had that massive influence on the world. This documentary shows in precise detail how that power emerged and expanded beyond the average world-famous musician image. Ono and Lennon created the celebrity power couple image before those terms were defined or canonized within the grander context of pop culture references. Parker carefully constructs the narrative of how together they worked to achieve that superstar image, and who helped them reach it along the way.

That documentary is not only a treat for hardcore fans, but also for newcomers and younger generations of music lovers. Discovering a time when celebrity culture was more than gaining Instagram followers or going viral, but having an actual impact on current events and starting movements, becoming the defining pinnacles of counter-culture. That’s what John Lennon represented. His relationship with Yoko Ono, his leadership of the people, and his legacy were solidified by his murder. Watching people from his time and music historians describing him and fleshing out his artistry and his celebrity image will be an eye-opening experience for both fans and newbies alike.

So what’s new that Parker’s documentary brings to the table? It’s not obvious at first. After all, The Beatles are one of the most talked about, adapted, researched, and represented bands in music history. But it’s not as much the new content as it is the representation of John Lennon within the grander scheme of things. There could be a factor of redundancy or scenes that lag longer than they should at times. Not all the interviews are exciting, but no one can deny their informative, educational power.

Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade is a feast for the senses and a goldmine for any Beatles fanatic. It evokes an era, sadly gone, when art made a difference and influenced people’s lives. Parker meticulously crafts a documentary that transports viewers into a different time and space, where the blurred lines of the present were more defined and visible in what it meant to be on the right side of history.

Borrowed Time: Lennon’s Last Decade will debut in UK cinemas on May 2, 2025, courtesy of Kaleidoscope Entertainment.