Description
Release Date Friday 28th November 2025
All pre-orders will be dispatched/made ready for collection on that day.
This beautiful and moving 84-minute documentary, directed by Johanna St Michaels, is
inspired by the poem of the same name by British-born, Los Angeles based poet John
Tottenham. It is centered around Johnson's 12-hour live Radio Cineola broadcast, which
included live music, poetry and interviews with teachers, healers, environmental activists
and political commentators whose voices are frequently silenced.
Within the film Matt Johnson examines his troubled relationship with celebrity and the
creative process and, through the tragic deaths of his mother and two of his brothers,
how bereavement has informed his work and outlook. This film is not a traditional
biography of Matt Johnson and THE THE, although it certainly provides an overview,
seamlessly incorporating archive footage and the input of abiding creative collaborators
such as Tim Pope.
Having accepted the challenge by St Michaels to write a new song for the broadcast – a
challenge he initially resisted – The Inertia Variations became not only a film about
creative rebirth but also about returning from the precipice of despair. During the filming
of the project Matt Johnson’s brother Andrew (AKA Andy Dog), a man intrinsic to the
visual aesthetic of THE THE, passed away – so a song intended to be about London that
Johnson was labouring over instead became ‘We Can’t Stop What’s Coming’, the first
THE THE single in fifteen years.
Internationally premiered at CPH: DOX in Copenhagen in 2017, The Inertia Variations
enjoyed a run of sell-out screenings at cinemas across Europe but never – until now –
had a physical release. It will be available as a beautifully designed Hardcover Mediabook
including Blu-ray and DVD, as well as digitally.
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