Don’t be fooled by how similar in name they sound: Nirvanna the Band is not the grunge group Kurt Cobain spearheaded in the 1990s before his untimely death (that one is spelled “Nirvana”). It’s the more modern creation of independent Canadian filmmakers Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol. Both play fictionalized versions of themselves who seemingly remain oblivious to the other group’s existence whilst doing this band together. So much so that neither individual ever acknowledges how near-identical their monikers are. Originally released as a web series before Viceland greenlit an official network show for two seasons and counting, the mockumentary sitcom Nirvanna the Band the Show followed the fictional Matt & Jay’s comic misadventures as they try to get their own band booked at one of Toronto’s most notable performance spaces, the Rivoli. In bringing this series to the silver screen with Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Johnson has created an ambitious comedic work, stunning in its sheer scale, one that’s accessible even to audiences unfamiliar with the show it’s based on. 

Over the course of NtBtS, Matt & Jay’s schemes for getting into the Rivoli become progressively more ridiculous, from stealing their official guestbook to draping a giant poster of themselves over public property. In NtBtStM, they still manage to outdo themselves with one of the most death-defying stunts put to film this year. All for the sake of drawing further attention to themselves, they attempt to illegally skydive off a tall tower (known as the “CN Tower”) into the Rogers Centre baseball stadium just below, right before the building’s overhead roof closes. The sheer ballsiness required to try pulling off such a stunt is jaw-dropping, by far surpassing the impressive heights NtBtS reached in the past. Even if nothing else here was worth writing home about, that alone would be more than worth the price of admission. However, this is but a mere jumping-off point for the unmitigated insanity to follow.

In the wake of how that stunt pans out, Matt remodels his RV into a DeLorean-inspired time machine, accidentally transporting himself and Jay back to 2008. This year is not just significant since it’s when the film’s opening scene takes place (before an abrupt 17-year time skip to 2025 indicates just how little their schemes to play at the Rivoli have actually achieved), but also because it’s when the real Matt & Jay were making the original webseries that would eventually blossom into NtBtS. These meta parallels between the real and fictional duo’s creative efforts were also present in the TV show, with one episode even managing to link a fictional Matt & Jay plot with the real-life Matt traveling to Sundance Film Festival to premiere his film Operation Avalanche (an amateur home movie of the same name in the show’s universe). While NtBtStM’s production value is otherwise quite high, this section set in Matt & Jay’s past is filmed with the same low-quality cameras they had to work with in that era, as if to directly acknowledge how far they’ve come since then.

Another notable quirk of NtBtS is how much the real Matt & Jay pay tribute to classic cinema, frequently crafting elaborate homages to the famous films they’re most fond of. One episode entirely functions as an extensive Indiana Jones parody, while another alternates between sending up Freaky Friday and Jumanji at a moment’s notice. NtBtStM continues that signature trend with its obvious nods to Back to the Future, yet crucially puts enough of a clever spin on reimagining this ’80s classic to not just feel like lazy nostalgia-bait. Rather than utilizing pop-culture references as a mere replacement for jokes, it ensures each one of those really does have a satisfying narrative and comedic purpose. Whether or not one is already familiar with the other movies being invoked here, NtBtStM is still a wonderfully unique experience that remains unpredictable at every turn.

Given Matt & Jay’s signature flair for 4th-wall breaking self-awareness, it’s only natural for NtBtStM to ingeniously call attention to itself being a movie. Their use of the mockumentary format to blend real-life interactions with their fictional exploits, à la Borat or Brüno, only heightens the sheer absurdity of their time-traveling adventures. Cameramen are not only shown on-screen, but are even directly referenced by name as they become a part of this duo’s antics. To form a good grasp of what is or isn’t staged is often difficult, as the line between which is which often gets blurred quite convincingly. When the pixelated face of a real-life bystander appears in frame, it comes as a real shock to realize what’s being shown is real (at least, to a certain extent). This gleeful subversion of the typical filmmaking process is perfectly adept for Matt & Jay’s anarchic spirit, dramatically reshaping what a movie can even be to fit their own artistic goals.

No matter how ridiculous and over-the-top NtBtStM becomes, it has a surprisingly strong emotional core that always shines through. Matt & Jay’s real love for each other as friends, along with the Canadian city that is their home, is always felt just underneath all the wacky shenanigans and wild narrative detours. Just when this story reaches the height of its hysterical outlandishness, it reveals a genuine sense of sweetness one may not expect at all, but is very well-earned nonetheless. The film’s final scene, scored to a cover of Antônio Carlos Jobim’s “Waters of March”, is a heartfelt grace note that couldn’t possibly feel more pitch-perfect. It manages to give this story real dramatic gravitas while remaining aware of how silly everything is, which somehow never feels conflicting from a tonal standpoint. For something so tongue-in-cheek to also have a more poignant side is no small feat, especially when that’s balanced as well as it is here.

At the time of writing, the third season of NtBtS was filmed in its entirety, but hasn’t yet been released due to Viceland Canada shutting down. Nonetheless, NtBtStM still feels like the ultimate achievement that Matt & Jay’s careers have both been building towards for so long. Once this film finally gets a theatrical release outside the festival circuit (which is currently slated for February 13, 2026), one can only hope that it will introduce them to an entirely new generation, or at least gather a fresh fanbase outside the Canadian viewers NtBtS was originally targeted towards. For that reason alone, this is the type of future cult-classic in the making that deserves to be seen as widely as possible. If Matt & Jay themselves don’t achieve any further mainstream exposure because of it, that would be nothing short of a crushing shame.