{"id":602078,"date":"2026-02-19T23:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/602078\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T23:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T23:12:13","slug":"make-time-travel-to-see-nirvanna-the-band-the-show-the-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/602078\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Time (Travel) to See ‘Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie’"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m embarrassed. Truly. That was one of a variety of reactions<\/a> that coursed through my body after seeing Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie in theaters recently. I was embarrassed because I realized something so hilarious, so out there, so filled with pop culture passion had existed for years<\/a>, and I was just now becoming aware of its existence. But, at least I finally knew, so I pushed that embarrassment aside to revel in some other reactions. Reactions like pure joy, exhilaration, and the physical pain of smiling too big for too long after watching a film I truly adored.<\/p>\n

To fill you in on a few of the things I didn\u2019t know about, Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie is exactly what the title says, if you work backwards. It\u2019s a Canadian movie<\/a>, of a show, about a band that calls itself \u201cNirvanna.\u201d That band is made up of Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. The pair stars, Johnson directs, and they co-wrote the screenplay. (Johnson also directed Blackberry<\/a> and is attached to make a Magic: The Gathering movie<\/a>.)The film itself is about this band trying to play a show at a Toronto venue called the Rivoli, which, I later found out, is exactly what many of the show\u2019s episodes are about, too.<\/p>\n

That show started as a web series in 2007 and became the titular \u201cThe Show\u201d in 2017, airing in the U.S. on Viceland. So it\u2019s been around quite a long time before last week\u2019s release of the film. But, most importantly, none of that is crucial to enjoying the movie. Which I say for a fact because almost all of it I discovered afterwards, and I still found the movie to be a blast.<\/p>\n

\"NirvannaBuying some clippers in Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. \u2013 Neon <\/p>\n

Now, on the surface, Nirvanna The Band The Show isn\u2019t something we\u2019d feature on io9. It\u2019s a reality-based comedy show that might be filled with references to pop culture we cover but is still mostly grounded. The film, however, is not grounded. In the film, Matt and Jay come up with some of their wildest, most out-there plans yet. One of which is to travel back in time.<\/p>\n

So how would two pop culture nerds decide to time-travel? With the rules of Back to the Future,<\/a>\u00a0of course, and so the film very expertly skirts the boundaries of licensing to use footage, music, and more from that film to actually travel through time. From there, as you can expect, things go largely off the rails.<\/p>\n

And while the film\u2019s reverence for pop culture is a bonus, it\u2019s not the main reason why it works so well. The main reason is that these characters have a powerful friendship and trust, which allows them to do and say truly wild things to each other. It creates a level of unpredictability and humor that feels very much like a blend of The Office and Da Ali G Show\u00a0because lots of what Matt and Jay do comes from filming in the real world with real people. Are these people aware? Are they in on the joke? You never quite know, and that mystery adds yet another level to the experience.<\/p>\n

\"NirvannaThe DeLorean of Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie. \u2013 Neon <\/p>\n

The film also makes almost shocking use of how much society has changed between 2025 and 2008. It would be a sin to spoil some of the reveals, but once Jay and Matt make it back to 2008, some of the biggest laughs come from some subtle and not-so-subtle changes that have occurred over that time. And the characters themselves change too, which is where we get most of the narrative beats.<\/p>\n

But more than that, watching Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie is simply a delight. From the Ben Folds song that opens the film to all the super nerdy jokes and then the loving relationship between two friends, it\u2019s one of those movies that shouldn\u2019t work but does. So much happens, and yet it all feels so effortless. You can\u2019t stop watching and can\u2019t stop wondering how they pulled this off, all while laughing your ass off. It\u2019s also got an almost home movie quality to it, which purposefully makes the events that happen feel even more audacious.<\/p>\n

To describe Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie to someone who isn\u2019t aware of it is difficult. It\u2019s wholly unique and wonderful. But if you said it\u2019s kind of a mash-up of Back to the Future, Cloverfield, Spaced, and Arrested Development, with a dash of The Real World, you\u2019d be on the right track. It\u2019s a unicorn of a movie that immediately made me search out the show to become a fan years after I wish I already had been (Which, unfortunately, hasn\u2019t been possible because it\u2019s nowhere online legally at the moment.) In that way, though, Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie isn\u2019t just about time travel; it made me time travel, too. And you should make time and space to try to catch the film when you can.<\/p>\n

Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie is now in select theaters. Find tickets here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I\u2019m embarrassed. Truly. That was one of a variety of reactions that coursed through my body after seeing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":602079,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[171,252888,145628,53,252889,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-602078","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-jay-mccarrol","10":"tag-matt-johnson","11":"tag-movies","12":"tag-nirvanna-the-band-the-show-the-movie","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116099832020942888","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/602079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}