Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Review

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025)

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Written by: Matt Johnson & Jay McCarrol (based on the series created by), Matt Johnson & Jay McCarrol & Jared Raab & Curt Lobb & Matthew Miller & Matt Greyson & Luca Tarantini & Evan Morgan (story by), Matt Johnson & Jay McCarrol (written by)
Directed by: Matt Johnson
Starring: Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol
Rated: R
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Plot
When their plan to book a show at the Rivoli goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008.

Verdict
Borrowing heavily from Back to the Future (1985), two friends craft a ridiculous plan to book a performance at a local venue. This can be absolutely absurd and silly, even demented, while maintaining an infectious sense of energy. Above all it's entertaining from the very beginning. The way this develops the characters despite the ridiculousness is impressive. It's such an enjoyable adventure that asks you to ignore logic and just go with it. This is earnest enough to deliver on that.
Watch it.

Review
Originally a 2007–2009 web series and then a 2017–2018 television series, Matt (Matt Johnson) and Jay (Jay McCarrol) try to book a show at the Rivoli despite never having recorded a song.

While it liberally steals story bits from Back to the Future (1985), it adds such a layer of silliness and fun. Matt and Jay are planning their performance for an upcoming show at Rivoli except there isn't a show. They haven't booked it yet, and the dance sequence we see in the opening scenes is nowhere near as great as they think it is.

Matt Johnson, Jay McCarrol play Matt, Jay

Seventeen years later and they're still planning that show. To promote the show Matt proposes they skydive into the Toronto SkyDome from the CN Tower. I was wondering if they'd really jump and whether they even had chutes. They definitely do, but as they jump the SkyDom closes and they don't even make it in. It's a wild sequence, especially exhilarating just before they jump.

The movie has great energy, and it's quite funny. Matt's latest plan is to pose as a time traveler to convince the Rivoli to let them play. It's ridiculous, but that's what this movie is. Defying all reason and logic, the time travel idea works. There's no reason for it as they lack any kind of technology. That's part of the joke. It shouldn't work, but it does because that's the plot.

Matt Johnson plays Matt

While they travel back, they're forced to go to their apartment where they encounter their past selves, having to pretend to be their past selves. Matt decides to write a message on the marker board, and when they return, the present has been significantly altered. Matt is upset while Jay doesn't mind as much.

Just as I'm thinking Jay should remember the time travel, why doesn't he, this reveals that he does. I never knew where this plot would go. It's ridiculous in the best possible way with an infectious energy and charm. Matt and Jay are forced to harness lightning to go back to the past to fix their present. They connect an electrical cable from the CN Tower to an electrical box near their apartment. The shots of onlookers wondering what they're doing as they hook up the electrical cable is hilarious. This manages to be quite funny without trying. The fact this is so silly, so over the top and it still manages an emotional moment is impressive.