Director David Tedeschi’s Beatles ‘64 opens with a montage of all the promise and optimism that came with the Kennedy Era in America. But as the title takes centre stage, it plunks us into the aftermath of that period’s violent and abrupt end—the America the “Jolly English” Beatles first invaded and transformed into the nation of Beatlemania. Across 106 minutes, Tedeschi’s absorbing documentary explores how the fab four—John, Paul, George, and Ringo— reshaped U.S culture from the moment they arrived at the newly renamed “John F. Kennedy Airport” and made their way to a now legendary performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Featuring intimate, never-before-seen footage shot at the time by pioneering documentarians, Albert and David Maysles, Beatles ‘64 manifests as a rousing cross between an easygoing hangout movie and an illuminating cultural portrait. As a result, Tedeschi’s film not only succeeds as an account of the band’s witty and wisecracking dynamic, but as a grand snapshot of ‘60s America. In seamlessly entwining this backstage, hotel-room footage with present-day interviews with Paul and Ringo, conducted by producer Martin Scorsese, and archived interviews of George and John, Beatles ‘64 makes for an all-encompassing experience—one that constantly redefines and challenges our understanding of this definitive cultural moment.

Beatles ‘64 could have easily taken a more insular, fan-service-focused route, but quickly takes on a more detailed and holistic timbre. While most documentaries would centre on the pivotal Ed Sullivan performance, Tedeschi instead turns his attention to a Latin-American family tuning into the TV broadcast. While other films would fixate on famous concerts, Tedeschi trains his lens on the African American music that inspired the Beatles’ sound, acknowledging their role in appropriating and rendering it more palatable for wider and whiter audiences. Beatles ‘64 abounds in deft choices like these, broadening the borders of its canvas to become both a tapestry of this brief moment and the American zeitgeist.

In an interview with Marshall McLuhan, Lennon notes “The Beatles and their ilk were created by the vacuum of non-conscription….the generation that was allowed to live.” It’s a fascinating thought that taps into the heart of Tedeschi’s film and why the Beatles’ fateful first visit to the U.S. still reverberates today. For a split-second moment, a nation reeling from unspeakable tragedy was given the chance to heal with the rock and roll that took the stage—and the deafening cheers that came with it.

Beatles‘64 streams on Disney+ on November 29.