‘Man on the Run’ Review: Paul McCartney’s Prime Video Doc Is a Stellar Look at His Most Divisive Era

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Published Feb 26, 2026, 3:58 PM EST

Tania Hussain is an Executive Editor at Collider responsible for creative, editorial, and managerial duties. In addition to leading content ideation and development, she works to generate innovative and compelling ideas for feature articles and reviews with her editorial team across Features, Resources, Lists, and News. She has helped cover and ideate content for major events for Collider, including the Toronto International Film Festival. Tania has also conducted more than 100 interviews since her start in the business almost 16 years ago. Some favorites include Joel McHale, Charlie Cox, John Krasinski, Jennifer Garner, Tina Fey, Bob Odenkirk, Sophia Bush, Andy Richter, Jordan Schlansky, Jamie Dornan, Yeardley Smith, Arielle Vandenberg, and a reasonable toss-up between Cookie Monster and Kermit the Frog.

Between his 1963-1964: Eyes of the Storm exhibit making its way from city to city, and last November’s release of the memoir, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, legendary singer and songwriter Paul McCartney hasn’t exactly been quiet. If anything, the former Beatles icon has been carefully re-centering chapters of his career that used to feel like footnotes to a more front-facing portrait. Add in the usual low hum of tour speculation, and 2026 is already feeling like another banner year for the 83-year-old. But it’s his latest documentary, Man on the Run, that really sets the tone for what we never imagined from the artist.

The nearly two-hour documentary doesn’t open up on some triumph or some greatest hits sort of victory lap. Instead, it begins with something quieter and a little more compelling. Woven in with footage of waves crashing over Scottish shores, we learn of McCartney’s search for “personal peace” spliced with scenes from the past few months like a memory you can’t quite control. It’s a simple visual that Academy Award-winning director and filmmaker Morgan Neville sets up, but recognizes how the chaos never really ended just because The Beatles did in 1970. One voice featured in the film from a reporter even puts a dramatic label on the whole thing, calling the band’s breakup a “landmark in the decline of the British Empire.”

It’s funny in a dark way, but also, Neville makes it clear that for McCartney, it was never just a punchline or some casual loss. Instead, it was a shock to his system and psyche. What Man on the Run does really well is treat all of that aftermath like an impassioned event, not just a cultural shift. There’s a point early on in the film that McCartney admits he was overbearing, and even absorbed all the blame from the press and fans as the sole reason the band split. That kind of villanization left him stuck in what he calls a “no man’s land,” full of doubt and pain. Anchored by voiceover confessionals from family, friends like Mick Jagger, late wife Linda McCartney, and former bandmates from Wings, Neville’s film follows the decade that came as the second act McCartney didn’t exactly choose so much as survive — one where the artist had to figure out who exactly Paul McCartney was when “Beatle” was no longer the job title.

What Is ‘Man on the Run’ About?

After drying off from those crashing waves, Man on the Run basically rewinds to the exact moment the ground gave way for McCartney, where, in 1969, former Beatles bandmate John Lennon wanted out and framed the whole thing as weirdly exciting, like a “divorce.” Naturally, McCartney’s reaction was the total opposite. In what feels like a moment from Arrested Development, McCartney disappears to Scotland, triggering a legit “missing Beatle” frenzy. With rumors and conspiracies swirling that he died until Life magazine tracked him down for a story titled “The Case of the Missing Beatle,” the film doesn’t treat any of it as tabloid trivia but more as a snapshot of how quickly the story spun out of his control. Staying close to his wife Linda and their two young kids at the time, McCartney admits he grew depressed while in the countryside, and what started as “just a wee bit of scotch every day” quietly became too much.

With audio clips stitched over Linda’s home videos, it’s clear the moment wasn’t as easy or fairytale-perfect as it looked from the outside. It’s through these threads that Neville traces how McCartney crawled back to finding himself through music, even if it was experimental and not exactly in line with the Beatles’ quality. From recording his debut album, McCartney, in a sharply exploratory way to getting critically bruised and eventually building Wings with Linda, the documentary shows just how out of step he seemed when times were shifting dramatically amid war and protest music dominating the conversation. Even his former Beatles bandmates led the change through their own songwriting, as Lennon’s record Imagine in 1971, with his wife and music partner, Yoko Ono, set the bar while McCartney was singing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and getting publicly dragged for it.

But as we see McCartney’s lows, we also observe how he was strained from all sides, including his past catching up with him through the fallout of manager Allen Klein, and the public perception war that cast McCartney as the big bad guy, constantly caricatured in the press. Moving through the grind of Wings’ formation between rehearsals and tours, up until the point when Band on the Run climbs the charts and solidifies his return, the second act is real. From there, Neville’s direction finds the film gesturing towards later complications of fame not experienced within the Beatles’ scope of success, including an arrest in Japan for drugs and security issues that forced tour plans to shift following the death of Lennon.

‘Man on the Run’ Reframes Paul McCartney’s Second Act With Heart

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One of the things that really works in Man on the Run is how it plainly underscores McCartney as just a regular human being, torn apart after something so formative and important suddenly ends. It’s disarming to hear him disclose he didn’t know what he was going to do after his record, Ram, flopped, or that he genuinely believed all the public gaslighting over The Beatles’ end. It’s sad, but it never once dramatizes those moments across its 115 minutes with heavy-handed commentary or swelling music. It just lets you sit in that discomfort with him. From low points like drinking too much, the distress of possibly serving seven years in prison, or feeling broken without the band, you can hear the anguish in his voice stitched over moody images and candid videos. It’s that vulnerability, particularly from someone who spent decades being caricatured as the “cute” Beatle, that adds real emotional weight.

That feeling is deepened through its voiceover interview style without ever overwhelming the narrative, like Lennon’s death, which is reframed by his son Sean Ono Lennon. While Sean offers a particularly thoughtful perspective following McCartney’s reaction that was once called cold by fans and the press, that moment is now reinforced by his daughter Stella, who recalls the real-time response, which lands deeper after that snappy soundbite got lost in headlines. The artist’s former rival (and now friend) Jagger also pops in as a voice that shares insights from the other side, never once mythologizing McCartney or piling on. Instead, he’s there as a peer who watched the post-Beatles fallout happen from the neighboring realm of fame while speaking to what it means to rebuild yourself. Adding to that texture are McCartney’s former Wings bandmates, who express their frustrations about creative input, never treating them like background players in the story. And finally, there’s Linda, whose voice, photographs, and her presence in those early rehearsal clips feel like the emotional spine of Man on the Run.

But one of the most thoughtful points of interest that deserves credit in Neville’s feature is the collage-style editing reminiscent of cut-out portraits with rippling transitions that mirror a Monty Python-like scrapbook aesthetic. While that could feel gimmicky and kind of cartoonish, it vibrantly sets the tone and style of McCartney’s own creative trajectory. Additionally, the archival footage is genuinely exciting to watch, whether it’s early Wings rehearsals in 1972, studio sessions, or family moments (care of his own photos from the exhibit) that feel refreshingly unguarded; the film truly moves like a jukebox of his hits, whether they be high or low. It’s that balancing act between legend and domesticity that holds steady for appeal.

‘Man on the Run’ Doesn’t Fully Pull Back the Curtain on Paul McCartney

But for all its warmth and emotional spine, Man on the Run occasionally feels like it’s hovering just above something deeper. While this isn’t new and is seen in quite a few documentaries, the choice to keep McCartney and the other literal “talking heads” off-camera creates a bit of distance between the subject and its audience. When you can hear the strain and even tenderness in the artist’s reflections, there’s a slight disconnect that comes from not seeing him wrestle with memories or anguish in real time.

At just two hours, the pacing also feels a bit uneven, and though it moves briskly through some key moments, it could have benefited from some breathing room. The constant lineup changes for Wings are acknowledged, but never really unpacked. In terms of McCartney’s foray into music when war had just broken out, the political undercurrent of the era is touched on, but his choices are rarely questioned. It’s these kinds of moments that hit the surface with care, like Lennon’s death, but rarely pull the curtain all the way back for a true portrait. It’s almost like you’d need to do some homework between the exhibits, the memoir, and the film to read between the lines. It doesn’t make any of it insincere, but that missing nuance isn’t exactly revelatory for die-hard Beatlemaniacs versus casual watchers who will learn something new.

But for what it’s worth, Man on the Run does earn its place in this new wave of McCartney retrospection. It might not answer every lingering question or fully offload his tensions, but it does capture something more elusive and wholesome. From the quiet determination of a man who refused to freeze time, it’s charming and almost inspiring to watch him rebuild, even if it was awkward at times. But it’s that stubborn nature of his, mixed with a lot of love for music that reminds you, reinvention isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes it’s just strumming the guitar a bit more to figure out what you really want to hear. Even with some of these missed beats, Man on the Run lands as a heartfelt, absorbing look at a second chance that found the living legend running toward something steadier.

Paul McCartney: Man on the Run streams on Prime Video on February 27.

Release Date February 17, 2026

Runtime 115 Minutes

Director Morgan Neville

Producers Ben Chappell, Chloe Simmons, David Blackman, Meghan Walsh, Michele Anthony, Morgan Neville, Scott Rodgers

Cast

Pros & Cons

The film humanizes McCartney, revealing his depression and doubt with raw honesty that adds real emotional weight.
Rare archival footage and photography create an intimate, immersive portrait of his post-Beatles reinvention.
Smart interview choices add nuance without overwhelming the story.

Keeping McCartney off-camera creates emotional distance during moments that call for deeper vulnerability.
Longtime Beatlemaniacs may find few revelations, as the film skims rather than fully excavates its themes.

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