Smith’s Verdict: ****
Reviewed by Tanner Smith
I love director Matt Johnson’s work. The Dirties is one of my new favorite movies. Operation Avalanche is a lot of fun. BlackBerry topped my best-of-2023 list. And upon learning that Johnson used his “BlackBerry” success to fund a film adaptation of his web series Nirvanna the Band the Show, I was beyond curious to see how his true “passion project” would turn out…
I’m just gonna say it right now: we are early into 2026, and I am already declaring “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” to be the funniest, most clever, and most entertaining film of the year.
Well, it got me to write a new full review for the first time in over a year. So, let’s dive in.
“Nirvanna the Band the Show” was a mockumentary sitcom that centers around the duo of Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, playing two dim-witted Toronto musicians who desperately want to perform a gig at the Rivoli music venue. But it’s just not enough for them to simply call up the Rivoli and ask to perform there for a night–nope, Matt always has a wacky scheme, he always lays it all out for Jay, who accompanies the would-be exciting revelatory moments with a piano score. And they have camera operators record their every endeavor and failure. (One of them is Johnson’s frequent cinematographer Jared Raab.)
Like the series, most of the film (with the perfect title: “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie”) involves Matt & Jay kindly, politely interacting with everyone around them, while their always-present cameramen follow their every venture (usually from a distance). These are not actors they’re interacting with; they’re just random people they happen across and capture on camera (and then later ask to sign release forms if they’ve made an impact on the resulting scenes in which the footage works best–and if people’s faces are blurred out in the final cut, well, you get the idea). It’s similar to “Borat,” “Jackass,” and “Impractical Jokers,” except the filmmakers aren’t live-pranking people. They’re just going out in public, making a film with a very light script (maybe even no script), and turning the people they encounter into characters to help further the story along. It’s very much “ask permission never, ask forgiveness later,” and that spirit helps elevate the fun of the production.
But even not knowing that going in still makes for a great time. I saw this film twice–once with a friend who hadn’t seen the original series, the next time with my fiancee who was somewhat familiar with Johnson’s filmmaking style, and both companions enjoyed the film equally.
…But with that knowledge going in, it makes the experience all the more remarkable. For instance, the film starts with a bang–Matt has a crazy idea for himself and Jay to get onto the sky deck of the CN Tower, use pliers to cut the safety cables, jump off, and parachute their way into the Skydome during a baseball game. It’s so crazy, you’d think it wouldn’t work. But…they were able to go inside the building, despite carrying backpacks with parachutes inside and also despite the security guard (whose face is blurred) asking why they’re bringing in pliers with them (Matt’s excuse: to clip threads off his pants). They did it. They went inside. They made a scene out of it. Now, where this leads, I won’t give away, except to say…I wonder how they did it.
And that’s not the last time you’ll wonder that as the film goes on.
It’s a brilliantly comic, standout opening sequence that feels like an elevated (no pun intended) version of an episode of the show, and it starts off the film, which is all about going big or going home. Matt has yet another scheme almost immediately after the skydiving plan didn’t work. Inspired by his VHS copy of “Back to the Future,” he soups up his and Jay’s RV to a makeshift “flux capacitor” (you know, the thing that makes time travel possible) and time-circuit table matching the layout of the Delorean from the film in hopes of (I’m not kidding) convincing people that Matt has messed up the time-space continuum by traveling back in time to 2008 and the way to fix it is to have his band, Nirvanna the Band respectively, perform at the Rivoli. Well, it turns out he doesn’t have to fake this one; the newly-fashioned time machine does work. It transports Matt and Jay back to 2008, when they hatched their first scheme to attempt a Rivoli gig. And upon spying on their younger selves, they are given the chance to explore what things might be if they were done differently.
And that’s about as far as I’ll go in describing the film’s plot–and far be it for me to give away the best jokes (such as how long it takes Matt & Jay to realize they’re back in time and what finally helps convince them). Instead, I’ll go into the film’s heart, which ties to this friendship. Matt and Jay have spent 17 years planning and enacting one wacky scheme after another, and Jay is flat tired of wasting his life with this guy. (In fact, after the failed skydiving plan, he does the thing Matt should have done to begin with: he calls a venue to ask if he can perform during an open-mic event. Brilliant!) He’s ready to leave him. Matt just doesn’t get it. And with this time-travel phenomenon, they’re able to see what life would be like without each other. Would they get what they wanted? Would they be lower than ever before? What happens when you get what you want?
The film continues, with Matt continuing to drive the film along himself, using “Back to the Future” as an influence to progress the story forward (and Jay even uses cues from the “Back to the Future” music score to help accompany it). What results is more outrageous comedy, more misadventures all across time and Toronto, a wild butterfly-effect scenario, and naturally, a climax in which time is of the utmost importance. But at the heart of it all is the friendship between Matt and Jay. These two have gone through so much together since the first episode of the original web series (in 2008), and these two would miss each other badly if they weren’t together anymore.
The film is also unapologetically Canadian. Everywhere Matt and Jay go, they have to welcome tourists to this fine city of Toronto just…because. Even in the climax, when Matt is riding on the kindness of a French stranger to help him in a pivotal moment, he still asks, “Are you from France or Quebec?” “France.” “Welcome to Toronto!”
“Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” is just a great big showcase of entertainment. It wants nothing but the audience to feel utmost joy upon watching it. Matt Johnson & Jay McCarrol are having a great time entertaining us. And when I am giving a film my highest recommendation, it doesn’t just have to be because it’s emotionally resonant (Shudderbugs). It can also be because it is just so clever…so funny…and so damn entertaining.
Please make another 20 films, Matt Johnson. I will see all of them.
Smith's Verdict 