‘Metallica Saved My Life’ Documentary Teaser Celebrates Four Decades of Fandom Family

Every fan has a story — a record they’ll never forget hearing for the first time, an album they’ve memorized every moment of, a live performance that made them feel transcendent. In the teaser trailer for Metallica Saved My Life, the heavy metal band’s fans share their own stories.

Directed by Jonas Åkerlund, Metallica Saved My Life celebrates four decades of found family through fandom. “I was a dork,” one fan said, while another added: “I’ve always been kind of a loner.” Others recalled being teased and taunted for not fitting the stereotype of what an audience for a band like Metallica is expected to look like. Frontman James Hetfield appeared in the teaser to encourage an opening of the floodgates and facilitate the emotional release: “I want to hear ’em. I want to hear ’em all.”

One fan who appears in the clip recalled finding solace in Metallica’s music while growing up in civil war. “I found the music that had been the soundtrack to my life,” she said. Also featured are metal cowboys from Botswana, who champion their subculture there. “We have an identity here,” one member said. “It gives me the lion heart.”

In searching for a word to describe the sense of community created within the Metallica fandom, the words religion and cult are option, but the most fitting term is much simpler: Family. “Metallica is all of us together,” another fan said. “It belongs to all of us.”

Metallica Saved My Life is incomplete at the present moment, but will begin screening in select theaters for one night only in the cities Metallica will be performing in on their M72 tour, kicking off April 18. “Not quite finished yet, we want YOU to be among the first to see our latest film project by award-winning director Jonas Åkerlund, all about the lifeblood of this band: the fans,” the band wrote on Instagram. “This documentary explores our world through the lives of fans who have supported each other through highs, lows, trials, and triumphs for over four decades.”

From Rolling Stone US.