“Ozzy: No Escape From Now,” released on Paramount+ on October 6 (along with several special fan screenings), wasn't originally intended to be a posthumous documentary revisiting the final years of Ozzy Osbourne's life. But that, tragically, turned out to be what it was after the rock icon's death in July, while the film was still in the editing process.
British director Tania Alexander, with the consent and involvement of Sharon Osbourne (executive producer), set out to make a film that explored the aftermath of Ozzy's life-changing fall in 2019, the impact it had on him, his mental health, and his family, along with his desperate efforts to return to the stage and the emotional devastation of having to cancel his farewell tour.
Director: Tania Alexander
Stars: Ozzy Osbourne, Kelly Osbourne, Andrew Watt
Amidst the grief, "No Escape From Now" also manages to show the solace Ozzy found in returning to writing music, particularly for what would become his final studio album, "Patient Number 9," and his determination to say goodbye to his fans one last time, culminating in a triumphant farewell concert in his hometown of Birmingham (surrounded by some of the biggest rock stars on the planet, most of them incredibly moved to honor their hero).
When Ozzy passed away less than three weeks later, Alexander was still immersed in editing the film. But, as she explains, not only did it go ahead—at the family's request—but, apart from one addition at the end, nothing was changed.
Phil [Alexander, producer and former editor of Kerrang! magazine] and I have a long relationship with the Osbornes. We knew what had happened to Ozzy, and we found out around the time he was recording "Patient Number Nine." We had a conversation with Sharon. We wanted to tell the story of what had happened to him since that fall, which we knew had affected him and his family greatly, and she said, "Well, I want it to be told, but I want it to be told exactly as it is, no matter how hard it is, without beating around the bush." The one thing you know about the Osbournes is that they're very honest. There's no beating around the bush. Sharon gives you complete freedom, but we always wanted to start with, "This is what we want to do." And if there were any red flags, she would have pointed them out.
When you have someone as sick as Ozzy, you just need to have things a little more planned, in the sense of, "What are your intentions?" And Sharon never blocked anything and was very trusting. We started knowing there might be ups and downs when it came to filming, whether it was because he was undergoing surgery or going through difficult times. So we had to be flexible. But she said, "Tell the truth." We've been through a terrible time, so we want that to be reflected.
There were times, as you see at the beginning, when he's sitting in his chair and feeling quite uncomfortable, due to Parkinson's, but also because he had terrible back pain constantly. He was always very concerned about his cushions. So we were constantly asking him, "Do you want to stop?" And he's the kind of guy who sits down and asks, "How long is this going to go on?" And then, honestly, 20 minutes in, he'd really enjoy chatting about himself and asking, "Do you have any more questions?" You could tell it was just part of his day and almost a nice thing to do.
Which is crazy. When we started filming with him, he had to postpone his world tour. So, during filming, we were always wondering, "Will he be able to do the tour?" "Will he be able to get in shape for the tour?" And then he does the Commonwealth Games and comes back full force, saying, "I'm going to do the tour." And then the rug was pulled out from under him again. Up until that point, we were just seeing if he could get back on stage for the tour. And then, literally, it happened in that conversation. I'd been saying to Sharon, "I feel like I haven't thanked you or said goodbye, and if I can't tour, I need to do something." And she asked, "What if we did this last show?" We didn't start with that as the end. Our pitch was the story of one man's struggle to get back on stage one last time. But that's what it became. And I saw the determination. He had sepsis at the end of April, and I think he was 72 days away from getting back on stage. His determination was phenomenal.
There's genuine respect and love. Many of those kids will remember when they were kids and how he changed their lives. Billy Corgan was very sad. James Hetfield was very emotional. He means a lot to me in so many different ways. It was an extraordinary moment for me to see Ozzy see those great artists singing his songs in front of him. They were really nervous, you could tell. But I did think they said some really beautiful things, and they all meant it.
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