Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie — Review
Source: Neon
Perhaps February is too early to crown something “the funniest film of the year,” but I feel strangely confident in declaring Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie exactly that. In fact, I first saw it back in October 2025. So as far as I’m concerned, it has already held that title for two consecutive years. And yet, it’s so much more than merely an excellent comedy. This is the rare project fueled by an almost reckless passion for filmmaking itself. It’s wildly inventive, absurdly imaginative, and unafraid to push creative, cinematic, and even legal boundaries. It feels as though films like this only come along once in a generation. It’s the type of movie that makes audiences wonder, “How did this get made? How did they get away with it? How much of this is real? Was any of it even legal?”
The film builds on Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s web series Nirvana the Band the Show (2007-2009) as well as the sequel television series Nirvanna the Band the Show, which aired on Viceland for two seasons from 2017-2018. However, prior knowledge is unnecessary. I hadn’t seen a single episode of either when I walked into the theater, and the movie still completely blew me away. That accessibility is part of the film’s brilliance: it welcomes newcomers while rewarding longtime fans.
It opens with archival footage of Johnson and McCarrol brainstorming ways for their fictional band to land a gig at the Rivoli in Toronto. Matt dances around, pitching ideas, shouting, “And then I do my two-step. And this is just, no talking. Like they just get to watch me move. And women in the crowd are like, ‘What the fuck is this? Who is this guy?’” Sitting in the audience with no prior context, I found myself having that exact reaction—in the best possible way. I was already familiar with Johnson’s work as a director, writer, and actor from his 2013 debut, The Dirties, as well as the 2023 film BlackBerry, but this film firmly cemented him as a singular creative voice whose future projects I’ll enthusiastically follow without hesitation.
I only went to see Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie because I heard good things from a few friends, and the premise sounded amusing. All I knew going in was that it’s about a couple of guys trying to book a gig for their band, even though they’ve never actually written or recorded a single song. I thought that sounded like it had potential to be funny. “Potential” turned out to be a massive understatement. I had no idea I was about to witness something that was not only hilarious but that was also groundbreaking, possibly revolutionary.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a mockumentary, but it also incorporates elements of hidden-camera prank films reminiscent of Borat (2006) or Bad Trip (2021), where some of the humor derives from genuine reactions from unsuspecting people. It involves some extreme stunt sequences that evoke Jackass: The Movie (2002), though the emphasis here isn’t on pain so much as sheer scale and risk. Yet, on top of all this, the film is also a buddy comedy and a time-travel movie.
The screenplay is unbelievably clever. Beneath the absurdity are some sincere reflections on friendship, while the time-travel gags rank among the funniest since Back to the Future (1985). The film is audaciously inventive with its DIY guerrilla filmmaking style that almost feels improvisational. Yet every beat lands with such precision that it simultaneously feels meticulously constructed.
The running gag from the original web series—Matt and Jay’s endless attempts to land a gig at the Rivoli—becomes the perfect narrative launchpad here. Because Matt and Jay filmed themselves more than a decade earlier, they had a treasure trove of archival footage, which they ingeniously transformed into the backbone of a time-travel story. This time, their quest to play at the Rivoli escalates when they convert an RV into a DeLorean-style time machine.
The way Matt Johnson, as well as the film’s editors, Curt Lobb and Robert Upchurch, incorporate older footage and seamlessly blend and edit it to tell this time-travel story is truly groundbreaking. The illusion is so convincing that if someone walked into this movie under the impression that it’s a documentary instead of a mockumentary, they might actually start to believe time travel is real. Where most time-travel films rely on de-aging technology, makeup, or younger actors, here the stars literally interact with their past selves through previously recorded footage. If audiences celebrated Richard Linklater’s Boyhood (2014) for its innovative production process, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie deserves similar recognition.
The story veers in unpredictable directions, and it’s an absolute blast from start to finish. The film had me laughing nonstop until my face hurt, made my jaw drop multiple times in complete and utter disbelief, and even made me feel unexpected emotions. The world needs more trailblazing filmmaking duos like Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, who aren’t just pushing the envelope; they’re setting it on fire and doing things no one has thought of before. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is delightfully absurd, riveting, heartfelt in its exploration of friendship, and an astonishing cinematic achievement.
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie hits theaters on February 13, 2026.
