Punk rock's first two decades get a chronological retelling from director Don Letts, who was there himself as a DJ at the Roxy club in London during the Sex Pistols' rise. The film moves in interviews rather than narration, cutting between David Johansen of the New York Dolls, Thurston Moore, Henry Rollins, Mick Jones of the Clash, Jello Biafra, Siouxsie Sioux, Captain Sensible, and filmmaker Jim Jarmusch, each recalling the scene from the inside. The story starts before the Sex Pistols, with New York's Dolls and CBGB regulars, then tracks how the sound and look crossed the Atlantic and split into competing scenes, hardcore in America, art-school confrontation in Britain. Archival concert footage carries the aggression the interviews describe, torn clothes and safety pins next to the guitars and shouted vocals. Letts, who filmed much of the London scene himself on Super 8, has his own footage to draw on, which gives the earlier chapters a firsthand quality rare in music documentaries covering this period.