Southland Tales

R

Released Nov 14, 2007

2 hr. 24 min.

Comedy

Drama

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List

41%

107 Reviews

Tomatometer

41%

25,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

With the United States under the threat of nuclear attack, the lives of several people converge in a dystopian Los Angeles. Movie star Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) plans his next film with the help of ambitious porn actress Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and troubled policeman Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott). Meanwhile, Marxist revolutionaries, greedy corporations and secretive government agencies pursue their separate agendas among a paranoid populace.

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Critics Consensus

Southland Tales, while offering an intriguing vision of the future, remains frustratingly incoherent and unpolished.

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mark g

Can a film be too ambitious? Never! I was part of the elite that actually saw this in the theater and later bought the DVD. Can you really follow everything going on? No, not really. But damn if this isn't one of the slickest and cool pieces of filmmaking ever. A lot of great scenes. Kind of similar to Darko in that if you watch the Directors/non-theatrical version, the plot will be easy to follow, bit who wants that!?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/07/24

Full Review

Jeff L

This HAS to be a money laundering scheme. People who rated this highly are unfamiliar with 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. There's nothing deep here. It's nonsense. Wouldn't even be enjoyable or cohesive while high. Watching this is a waste of time.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/07/24

Full Review

Luke L

Scary to see how right this movie was at predicting the future.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/29/24

Full Review

Pendaran R

This movie is over most people's heads but I think it's genius.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/29/23

Full Review

Nikki H

An often misunderstood dark comedy about how the world might end.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/23/23

Full Review

Cinephemeride

a film full of promise when you read the synopsis but which is ultimately very messy and sometimes quite incomprehensible. Missed

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/17/23

Full Review

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Richard Kelly

Director

Dwayne Johnson

Boxer Santaros

Seann William Scott

Roland Taverner

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Krysta Kapowski

Curtis Armstrong

Dr. Soberin Exx

Joe Campana

Brandt Huntington

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Southland Tales: Trailer 1

2:27

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Philippa Snow

New Statesman

Southland Tales is dizzyingly maximalist, never happy with one set-piece if it can introduce five. It is unhinged, and occasionally exhilarating, and quite often funny.

Jun 3, 2020

Full Review

Mark Olsen

Film Comment Magazine

As the follow-up to his debut feature, the unexpectedly enduring teen-movie/sci-fi hybrid Donnie Darko, writer-director Richard Kelly has crafted an even more ambitious and far-reaching story

Nov 19, 2013

Full Review

Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

They've left it late, but writer-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) and his team have gone and scooped The Independent's Worst Film of 2007 award - against stiff competition, too.

Rated: 1/5

Dec 7, 2007

Full Review

Justin Micallef

Vague Visages

To catch the eye of Southland Tales is to look back on our past and future simultaneously, on the limitations of our technology and the humanity that screeches through it.

Feb 6, 2024

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Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

A radical, swirling hallucination of ideas that all feel grabbed at random.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 26, 2022

Full Review

Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

Sprawling, chaotic, stuffed to the gills with unexpected character actors and filled with apocalyptic mayhem, 2006's Southland Tales had a vision of where America was headed.

Sep 10, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

With the United States under the threat of nuclear attack, the lives of several people converge in a dystopian Los Angeles. Movie star Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) plans his next film with the help of ambitious porn actress Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and troubled policeman Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott). Meanwhile, Marxist revolutionaries, greedy corporations and secretive government agencies pursue their separate agendas among a paranoid populace.

Director: Richard Kelly
Executive Producer: Bill Johnson, Jim Seibel, Oliver Hengst, Katarina K. Hyde, Judd Payne, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Kevin Loughery
Screenwriter: Richard Kelly
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Company, Destination Films
Production Co: Cherry Road Films LLC
Rating: R (Some Drug Content|Sexual Material|Language|Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 14, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 27, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $273.4K

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