Have you ever heard of the incredibly Canadian television show Nirvanna the Band the Show? No? It premiered on Vice in 2016 after being a web series in 2007. The show was about two friends who create a band called Nirvanna the Band and want to perform at a local bar and their antics as to how to get to perform at said bar. Some of the things they do in the show are some of the most baffling, insane, chaotic things I had seen on a show. Matt Johnson, the ingenious mind behind The Dirties (2013), Operation Avalanche (2016), and BlackBerry (2023), shows off his master craft of lunacy again with Nirvanna the Band the Show (2007 – 2010), which was ahead of its time. This year, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is coming out and it is, without a doubt, the funniest thing you will see all year, potentially ever, and will make you seek out this show (it’s on the internet archives). You’ll be wondering how on Earth Matt Johnson and, by a lesser extent, Jay McCarrol have never been arrested for some of the truly mind-bogglingly brilliant nonsense they pull off in the movie, and even the show. Long live Nirvanna the Band!
If you’ve never seen the three-season show before, some examples of the antics that Matt and Jay get into include plastering a building-sized poster of the band on the side of Club Monaco in an attempt to get the attention of The Rivoli and not noticing that Jay’s penis is out of his jeans, flashing the venue they’re trying to get booked at; stealing a map from a local museum to find an underground; and somehow getting involved in a bank heist. Truly, if this is something that says to you, “I need to get my eyes on what absolute chaos these two can concoct,” then the movie, which doesn’t need a precursor, is the perfect way to get introduced to these two lovable goofballs.
The movie focuses on Matt and Jay in the year 2025 as they’re still trying to book a gig at the Rivoli (it’s a local bar/restaurant that has musical performances at night, not Madison Square Garden). Matt comes running downstairs with another absolutely insane plan to get them the gig. To spoil what the absurdist plan is, is a disservice.
L-R: Matt Johnson as Matt and Jay McCarrol as Jay in NIRVANNA THE BAND THE SHOW THE MOVIE. Photo courtesy of TIFF/NEON.
One thing leads to another and Matt just wants to try and fix things and ensure that he and Jay can eventually and play the Rivoli so he creates a plan to create a time machine (because he is obsessed with movies and decides to watch Back to the Future (1985) after the evening of the plan). He creates a time machine in the RV in their backyard, but doesn’t think it’s actually going to work, yet, somehow, after getting the RV (unexpectedly) to hit 88 km/h, Matt and Jay travel back in time to 2008 which creates a Toronto-specific Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part 2 in the most complimentary and perfect way possible.
If you’ve never seen an episode of Nirvanna the Band the Show, it truly is impossible to prepare you for how absurdly brilliant this movie is, but if you’ve never seen anything Matt Johnson has done — just be prepared for the most chaotic adventure you’ve ever seen. This is a movie focused around two collaborators who’ve been friends for nearly 20 years and, in the world of the show, they’ve just never been able to catch their break. They’re determined to play The Rivoli but maybe sometimes you realize you just need to do things on your own, or together, or just something different. The movie, while not posing to be anything more than what it’s intended to be, is incredibly heartfelt and somber while draped in a tapestry of bone-cracking, rib-displacing laughter that only Johnson knows how to create. While Johnson and McCarrol (playing double duty on some occasions) are exceptional in their roles, there is no denying how great they are, and with the inclusion of a brief appearance by Ben Petrie (BlackBerry; Dead Lover) and more mentions of their camera crew, as well, Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie gives longtime fans a perfectly executed movie, and people who’ve literally never seen a frame of the show an incredible reason to seek it out and explore the chaos that we’ve come to love and adore all these years.
*Author Note: I would rate this movie a 6 out of 5, but was told I had to explicitly stay within the predetermined rating system, but the movie is quite actually *that* good.
Screening during Toronto International Film Festival 2025.
In theaters February 13th, 2026.
For more information, head to the official Toronto International Film Festival Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie webpage.
Final Score: 5 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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