Entertainment

Play trailer

2:25

Entertainment

R

2015

1h 42m

Comedy

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

85%

Tomatometer

53 Reviews

45%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

An abrasive stand-up comic (Gregg Turkington) hits the road to perform a series of shows at seedy venues.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

As brilliantly and uncomfortably confrontational as its protagonist, Entertainment is a boundary-blurring exercise in cinematic misanthropy that more than lives up to its title.

Read Critics Reviews

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

The Blue Lenses

08/25/2018

With Turkington's deft hand, Entertainment methodically deconstructs the world's shallow surfaces.

Go to Full Review

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

11/19/2015

There's a chic emptiness to "Entertainment," undoubtedly, and anti-comedy constructs that may rub the wrong way, but there's also a spiky intelligence at work too, one that engages through the artifice of disengagement and the illusion of "performance."

Go to Full Review

Tom Keogh

Seattle Times

11/19/2015

2.5/4

It is not fun, but its confrontational style yields dividends.

Go to Full Review

Jordan Brooks

Vague Visages

08/01/2023

Not merely a story about the loneliness of a career on the road, Entertainment is the struggle of a man singularly steadfast in his pursuit of his chosen art.

Go to Full Review

David Bax

Battleship Pretension

01/14/2021

Entertainment is a film that hearty and curious viewers will return to time and again in an attempt to parse its meaning...

Go to Full Review

Elissa Suh

StageBuddy.com

03/16/2020

Part Lynchian hallucination, part deadpan comedy, part existential musing, Rick Alverson's unique vision is fully realized, and even ugly, but demands to be watched.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Scott E

Nov 14

Anger disguised as comedy.

See more

Dave S

02/21/2023

Watching Entertainment is as uncomfortable as watching porn with your grandmother. That's pretty uncomfortable. Gregg Turkington (a.k.a. Neil Hamburger) is a down and out comedian travelling through the California desert, performing his lewd stand-up routine in any dive bar that will book him. Indie director Rick Alverson (who also produced, wrote and edited the movie) clearly has an eye for visuals as he effectively captures the vast expanses of nothingness, a landscape that seems to mirror his protagonist's personality and talent. As far as the content is concerned, there really isn't any scene that fails to make the viewer uncomfortable and, if that was the intent, the movie is wildly successful. Entertainment is a hard film to assign a rating to – most will hate it, some will love it, and both will have valid arguments to support their opinions. Watch for yourself…and good luck.

See more

Frank P

10/24/2022

I cd either give it 5 stars or no stars, so as we approach zero, I'll hedge my bets. A cross between "Waiting For Godot" and "The Aristocrats." Do not watch if you have just been told that you have 6 weeks to live.

See more

bryan b

@heybryan 12/16/2021

I may be missing something here but watching a crappy comedian play at crappy venues and go on crappy tours in between does not a good movie make. Was that the point? The audience feels good that they are not this guy? Hard pass.

See more

05/20/2021

Just confusing bad comedy leaving multiple questions

See more

01/17/2021

It has a few elements I really liked, but which were ultimately indulgent distractions. The cinematography was interesting. I liked the use of colors and lighting. Neil Hamburger is obviously a big pull. I found it navel gazey and over-labored. I like films that can meander but this time it didn't work for me. The person I watched it with liked it. It's an acquired taste for sure, but I think the filmmakers were trying too hard.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Rick Alverson

Director

Gregg Turkington

The Comedian

Annabella Lwin

Airplane Tour Guide

Tye Sheridan

Eddie the Opener

John C. Reilly

Cousin John

Susan Cernas

Alejandro's Daughter Maria

Fat Kid Rules the World

84%

61%

Fat Kid Rules the World

Watchlist

Unfinished Business

10%

28%

Unfinished Business

Watchlist

Dope

88%

83%

Dope

Watchlist

Back in the Day

11%

47%

Back in the Day

Watchlist

Ride

53%

36%

Ride

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Now Streaming: Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and More

On DVD This Week: Spotlight, Fargo, The Good Dinosaur, and More

The 33 Is Too Predictable

Entertainment: Trailer 1

2:25

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

An abrasive stand-up comic (Gregg Turkington) hits the road to perform a series of shows at seedy venues.

Director: Rick Alverson
Producer: Ryan Zacarias, Ryan Lough, George Rush, Brooke Bernard, Rick Alverson, Patrick Hibler, Alex Lipschultz
Screenwriter: Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington, Tim Heidecker
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Arts & Labor, Autumn Pictures
Rating: R (Crude Sexual Material|Brief Drug Use|A Disturbing Image|Language)
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 13, 2015, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 6, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $55.5K
Runtime: 1h 42m

Most Popular at Home Now