This is probably not a big surprise, but Disney+’s #Hamilton is superb. It’s a faithfully, beautifully filmed version of the stage show that often intimately captures what makes the musical so great. It feels like you’re (sigh) in the room where it happened.

Don’t expect Hamilton to be a “movie,” though. It’s capturing the stage experience, filmed over two performances and was edited into a film. As the show gets less about spectacle and more towards smaller moments, the close ups hit a lot harder, and it works better on your TV.

My big takeaway watching Hamilton this time, and the thing that hit me the hardest -- not to get maudlin, but -- how much we’ve lost, how much is gone.

Hamilton was filmed in 2016, and knowing that brought me back to that moment in time, when everyone was still high on the musical, the lyrics, the concept.

It was also a time (you may know this???) right before the election when it felt like Hamilton perfectly channeled the idea that we were heading towards a more progressive, hopeful future in America, instead of the direct opposite.

Hamilton is also coming out on Disney+ the same week we’ve discovered that Broadway will be shuttered until at least January, something that is gutting to the industry, and fans who grew up obsessed with musicals. We're not going to see a stage show like this for a long time.

And Hamilton is a movie hitting at home at a time when movie theaters, too, may never open again in the same way. It works to watch on your TV, on your couch, with a few family members; but it was meant to be a rousing, crowd experience. We may never have that again.

When Hamilton first came out, it was a reminder of the beginnings of the American experiment, and how far we’ve come. Now, at what often feels like the end of that experiment, the movie release closes a chapter. It’s more bitter than sweet to watch, if you look at it that way.

Anyway! Morose eulogies for America and democracy aside, Hamilton is an incredible show and if you haven’t been lucky enough to see it live, the movie is a must watch that will only enhance the experience of obsessively listening to the soundtrack. Enjoy.