Richard Kelly's Southland Tales Screens
Richard Kelly's follow-up to Donnie Darko is a complex, futuristic tale of social, economic, and environmental disaster. The film will be screened in its notorious 'Cannes Cut' in 2K restoration at Wagner Hall in Brighton on Wednesday, 2 December 2026.
Dir: Richard Kelly
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, Justin Timberlake, Miranda Richardson, Wallace Shawn, Bai Ling
145 mins · 2007 · Germany, United States of America, France · Cert 15 · English
IMDb 5.3/10 · Rotten Tomatoes 41% · Metacritic 44/100 · TMDB 5.3/10 · Trakt 55%
Awards: 1 win & 3 nominations total
Richard Kelly, known for his debut feature Donnie Darko, has made a name for himself with complex and thought-provoking films. His follow-up, Southland Tales, is a science fiction thriller comedy that explores the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on the brink of disaster. The film boasts an impressive cast, including Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mandy Moore, and Justin Timberlake. With its intricate plot and blend of genres, Southland Tales has garnered a mixed response from audiences and critics alike.
The film is set in a dystopian Los Angeles, where Boxer Santaros, an action star suffering from amnesia, becomes embroiled in a conspiracy involving a reality television project and a Hermosa Beach police officer. As the story unfolds, the lines between reality and fiction begin to blur, creating a sense of unease and uncertainty. With its themes of social commentary, environmental disaster, and conspiracy, Southland Tales is a film that challenges its viewers to think critically about the world around them.
Southland Tales has received a range of scores from critics and audiences, with IMDb giving it 5.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes scoring it 41%, and Metacritic assigning it 44/100. On TMDB, the film has a score of 5.3/10, while Trakt users have given it 55%. Despite the mixed response, the film has won one award and received three nominations. Some viewers have praised the film's predictive nature, citing its portrayal of a reality television president and climate apocalypse as eerily prescient. Others have criticized the film's incoherent plot and lack of character development.
The screening of Southland Tales at Wagner Hall in Brighton on Wednesday, 2 December 2026, offers a unique opportunity to see the film in its 'Cannes Cut' in 2K restoration. Tickets or details are available with the button beside this article. The venue also offers a discounted Richard Kelly Double Ticket, allowing viewers to see Southland Tales in conjunction with Donnie Darko. Whether or not one agrees with the film's divisive reputation, the screening of Southland Tales is sure to be an thought-provoking and unforgettable experience.
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What viewers say
geomagneto
People will look back at Southland Tales after Trump and say Richard Kelly predicted the entire decade, and them some. Those who don't get the film just have low IQ's and can't see the brilliance of it. [spoiler]A hitman with amnesia, a reality television president, the bs conspiracies and angry vets while Tech Companies create an elite political class existing off human capital a midst a climate apocalypse (followed by a nuclear one); welcome…
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rickay · 1/10
Holy shit this movie is so bad. Such a waste of time. Avoid at all cost.
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jarvis-8243417 · 5/10
Richard Kelly's Southland Tales is an insanely bizarre and macabre film with Lynchian undertones. An actor named Boxer Santaros goes on a ride-along with a LAPD cop to research a screenplay that he's writing, but events lead Santaros to believe that his screenplay isn't as fictional as he thought and that reality isn't what it seems. The plot is incoherent; full of meaningless tangents that go nowhere and that don't service the main storyline.…
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bukman · 1/10
This is a movie that when I am ranting about other films is the "Ten" in the "on a scale of One to Ten..." Example: On a scale of One to Southland Tales, how frustratingly painful was this movie?" I watched this movie over a decade ago and I still feel the poison of it in my veins to this day. I guess if you are going for memorable, that is one way to go about it. I have spent too much time in my life (including writing this) thinking about,…
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HiImDannyGanz · 4/10
When I watched this movie, it was in an arthouse theater. We walked in twenty minutes late, and were totally lost. I thought that watching the bit that I'd missed would make the movie make sense. I was wrong.
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dogg724 · 2/10
Holy fuck is this an amazingly terrible movie. I honestly couldn't say much more than the booing audiences and professional reviewers when it came out. Even trying to watch it at twice the speed the "plot" drags unbearably. I don't know what's going on, I don't want to know, it's not going to go anywhere, and I'm writing this with 20 (45) minutes left because I need something to do in between the long nothing shots meandering about the room or…
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NakorTBR · 9/10
More relevant now than when it was made. This is a very funny movie. It is super critical of US culture, government, and religion, so you have to be evolved enough to understand that kind of thing. In a time when I am driven to strongly dislike my southern neighbour country, this movie says a lot. Not everyone is going to be able to grasp this movie. It is an absolute trip from start to finish. Also, I'd say the predict a lot successfully in…
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LNero · 5/10
> ,,We're taking the ATM machine with us to Mexico." ==== —trans-dimensional cop Stiffler > ,,The fourth dimension will collapse upon itself. You stupid bitch." —Jericho Cane This is a strange (first) watch in 2025. Strike that. It's a strange watch, but it's bizarre how predictive of the future it was. It's kind of hard to tell, though, since it's such a mess. Reading some of the lines from the film right after watching it got a bigger laugh…
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