Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie Parent Guide

Nirvanna the Band, consisting of members Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, are on a seemingly endless quest to play a gig at the famous Rivoli in Toronto, without success. After their latest grand plan (a scheme involving illegally parachuting off of the CN Tower) flops, Matt comes up with an even better idea. He’s going to style up their busted RV like the DeLorean from Back to the Future and convince people that they’re time travelers from the future. This should gain publicity for the band, allowing them to finally score a gig at the Rivoli. 

That plan doesn’t work either, but not for the usual reasons. Matt accidentally spilled potentially the last existing bottle of the discontinued “Orbitz” drink into the “time machine”, which somehow made it work. He and Jay now find themselves in 2008, without any more Orbitz, and having to dodge their past selves so they don’t accidentally cause some kind of paradox. Notwithstanding the obvious hazards, this might be an opportunity to change things for the band. 

If you, like me, have never heard of Nirvana the Band the Show (a web series) or Nirvanna the Band the Show (the subsequent TV series), this film is a strange entry point. It’s not difficult to keep up with the plot or characters (both of which are pretty simple) but I felt like I was missing a lot of references and callbacks which the movie was relying on to keep me entertained. 

The show’s main vice is profanity, with several dozen sexual expletives. Sometimes the swearing is “bleeped”, but not consistently. In the same conversation, f-bombs go uncensored while scatological language gets bleeped. For simplicity, I counted all cussing, censored or otherwise. Otherwise, there isn’t much negative content to be worried about aside from a fatal shooting.

I didn’t dislike this movie, but I don’t think I’m the target audience. I’ve never enjoyed the mockumentary style, and while the film has fun with that format, it still isn’t my favorite genre. Add to that my unfamiliarity with the material and you can see why this just isn’t the film for me. However, looking at other reviews, it seems to be a hit with fans of the franchise. Good for the filmmakers for making the movie their fans wanted. 

About author

Keith Hawkes

Keith Hawkes graduated from Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada with a degree in English and History. His interests are movies, American literature, science fiction, almost every kind of music, and museums. He enjoys criticizing films for fun - although he's okay with being paid for it.