Despite (or perhaps because) of its long winded title, one of the most anticipated films at TIFF 2025 is surely Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie. As the return of the cult web series starring and created by Toronto natives Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, this standalone feature is a trip for both old fans and newcomers alike. The duo bounce off each other in electric improvisational scenes where they cook up increasingly ridiculous plots to get themselves a show at the iconic Rivoli concert hall.

Jay and Matt have built a reputation on wild public stunts, and this film is no exception. Matt pushes the duo to do a plan more ludicrous than ever. The stunt implodes, their friendship splinters, and Jay decides it’s finally time to step out of Matt’s shadow. But just as they’re drifting apart, a strange twist of fate pulls them back together. Matt, meddling as always, triggers a chain reaction that catapults the duo through time itself. They find themselves back where Nirvana the Band all started: early 2000s Toronto. To make it home, they must navigate whether their partnership is worth saving, or if rewriting their history might be the biggest stunt of all.

The 2008 sequence in this movie is a feat of filmmaking in itself. Integrating real archival footage with clever visual effects piece together a hysterical portrait of the city in a different time. Johnson and his team seamlessly recreate the time period with giddy and meticulous attention to detail, right down to the period-accuracy of ads on billboards and posters. In the usual Nirvana the Band style, unceasing pop-culture references practically spill out of the frame to the degree that one might question the legal soundness of the film. With such incessant copyright violations, it’s a miracle this film even exists!

Matt and Jay shine as overblown caricatures of themselves, pushing every minor interaction with the citizens of Toronto to their most extreme, awkward, and hysterical. The lines between documentary and constructed scenes blur as the duo riff off in public, drawing stares and bursting laughter from anyone passing by. The improv moments are perfectly selected and paced for nonstop laughs while giving light to the biting wit of the filmmakers.

Let there be no doubt, this is a Toronto film. Anyone who’s lived in the city (or are just passing through for the Film Festival) can instantly identify with the experiences in Dundas Square, CN tower, or even on the TTC. Non-actor Torontonians, iconic landmarks, and old-school Canadian references take the spotlight in some of the funniest and most impactful moments of the film. Johnson is unparalleled in his ability to hold a mirror to the city that reflects, satirizes, and celebrates it all at once.

Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie is both an ode to Toronto and a testament to the anarchic creativity of its makers. Equal parts time capsule and time bomb, it’s the kind of messy, borderline illegal, self-aware cinema that can only come from Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol—audacious, unruly, and impossible to ignore.

Catch Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie will be premiering at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.