During this consistently stifling summer of 2025, there’s been more than just a whiff of nineties nostalgia floating in the air. The reconciliation between the Brothers Gallagher and resulting sixteen-years-in-the-making Oasis reunion has apparently infused many a middle-aged bastard with an epoch shattering reminder of a life that was both young and optimistic. In addition, fellow Britpop merchants Supergrass partook in a 30th anniversary tour celebrating 1995 debut I Should Coco and Stereophonics, just one week after Oasis finally broke their hiatus in Cardiff this July, followed with gargantuan Principality Stadium shows of their own.
It feels, therefore, an apposite moment for Edinburgh author Irvine Welsh to re-enter the cultural fray. The 66 year old writer has recently written articles for the Guardian, has just published fifteenth novel Men In Love, a direct sequel to his 1993 magnum opus Trainspotting, and here he’s given the featured length documentary treatment. Directed by Ray Burdis and Ian Jefferies (who previously gave us Kick Out The Jams: The Story of XFM), the 86 minute film proves to be a somewhat flimsy account of a man who, as a mere writer, had an inordinately powerful impact on life in the swinging nineties.
Given Welsh’s now extensive bibliography, it’s unfair to merely focus on him as a product of that decade alone. However, given that the film is Trainspotting-centric for approximately half its running time, one can be forgiven for following suit. Considering that Welsh’s sparklingly dark tales from the heroin addicted gutter of Leith – fuelled by ingeniously drawn characters – was an undeniable masterpiece that gave rise to a film adaptation which became a decade defining icon of British Cinema, it makes sense to give it some focus. However, the ‘beyond’ part of the film’s title soon starts to feel a little misleading.
Beginning with a potted sprint through his biography, we learn that Welsh, born in Edinburgh in 1958, soon found a nascent outlet for story composition when an encouraging English teacher told him – and I assume these words aren’t quite verbatim – “your grammar’s shit, your spelling’s shit, but you can write a story.” Later, he migrated to London, embedding himself within the “low rent, second tier” punk scene at the Vortex club and looking to succeed as a musician. Though the film doesn’t explicitly say so, this was the time when Welsh acquired a heroin habit and diaries of this time significantly informed his writing Trainspotting. Therefore, the cursory exploration of this segment is rather disappointing.
For fans of Welsh, there’s definitely enjoyment to be had in learning of his early relationships, viewing the archival photos of his youth and, in what could be the film’s most compelling revelation, Welsh’s involvement in a terrible 1982 accident when a bus full of Hibernian fans tipped over in ferocious winds. The incident claimed one victim but, after Welsh was hospitalised and later received compensation, it was, paradoxically, something of a life-giving circumstance. Welsh was able to get on the property ladder in London, turn a profit and provide some financial space for his writerly aspirations upon returning to Edinburgh.
Aside from that, there isn’t much for anyone already somewhat familiar with Welsh to learn. A little too often, the author takes a backseat to the phenomenon of Trainspotting itself, both the book, the original film and its 2017 sequel (rather than their partaking in this film, we see press circuit archival interviews with director Danny Boyle and stars Ewan McGregor and Jonny Lee Miller). Much of the film has the atmosphere of a hagiographic puff-piece (Welsh himself is amongst the producers) and, rather than a revelatory deep-dive, it serves a bit of a freewheeling overview. During the first moments of the film, Welsh gives assent to a ‘conversational’ style for his interview pieces and it feels like this approach is extended to the film generally. While this could make for a fun and unformulaic outcome, it just makes things feel a tad haphazard and unfocused. One moment, Welsh is talking about being mobbed in a Japanese branch of Waterstones, the next we learn of Oasis and Blur nearly coming to blows in Cannes, then Alan McGhee is dishing out tales of nineties debauchery.
The filmmakers have opted for choices that range from frustrating to unprofessional; the decision to have what sounds like lo-fi indie rock playing, quite literally, the whole way through is distracting; a photo of Noel Gallagher, which appears not once but twice, with only half an eye open is a strange choice; there are moments during the talking heads where the interview is saying something off camera that is neither audible or subtitled; there are also brief moments – such as when Welsh opts for ‘Filth’ as his favourite film adaptation – where we don’t hear the question and the topic is thus thrust upon us in a manner that feels lumped in.
The talking head contributions – including Iggy Pop, Gail Porter, Trainspotting 2 actor Simon Weir and Bobby Gillespie – have mixed results. Iggy Pop’s assertion that he was echoing Mark Renton in having to sell drugs to fund The Stooges nascent career feels like a stretch, Simon Weir’s lengthy anecdote – made longer by its being presented in installments – isn’t anywhere near as amusing as he thinks it is, and Alabama 3 musician Nick Reynolds’ account of his and Welsh’s attempt to film a multitude of female sphincters while in Ibiza somehow manages to be almost as disgusting as some of the most knowingly obnoxious passages in Welsh’s novels.
The most value, perhaps obviously, arrives from the interview sections of the man himself. Welsh delivers an amusing anecdote whereby on an evening when David Bowie was hosting a Trainspotting screening event in New York, Welsh instead found himself high on ecstasy amidst civil servants at a pub quiz in Leith. Seemingly a humble, unaffected person, Welsh’s sentiments on fame are interesting to note: “You learn fuck all from success, you just become a cunt. It takes you out of what you should be doing as a creative person, as an artist.”
It’s also interesting to learn that, despite the visceral darkness often rendered in his writings, Welsh’s friends find him generous, friendly and light of nature. Or, at least the friends that have been selected for this documentary do so. It’s a scattershot and unsubstantial account of a potentially fascinating subject.
Beyond Trainspotting: The World of Irvine Welsh is now available in digital format via AppleTv and other providers.
Scott Hammond