It doesn’t matter if you’re a lifelong fan or if you have never heard of them before: Matt Johnson’s declaration that “you are about to be sent to the moon!” at the start of “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” is enough to make you believe it.

The film started out as the web series “Nirvana the Band the Show,” created by Johnson and his lifelong friend Jay McCarrol. The series stars the duo as fictional versions of themselves who are aspiring musicians on a quest to book a show at the Rivoli in Toronto — despite having never written a song. Imagine a Canadian spin on Rob Reiner’s 1984 mockumentary “This Is Spinal Tap” or the New Zealand musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords injected with plenty of pop culture references.

Just as the show’s scope grew from its low-budget beginnings in 2008 to a Viceland revival in 2017, the two now take the series to the big screen after the success of the 2023 film “BlackBerry,” which they collaborated on. “Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” opens with Johnson’s most harebrained plan yet: skydiving from the CN Tower to promote their band. The film only escalates from there, pivoting into a “Back to the Future” riff that Johnson rightly calls “a copyright nightmare.” At the very least, it’s a relentlessly funny one.

Given their history working together, it doesn’t bear repeating that Johnson and McCarrol’s chemistry is off the charts. From the opening scene where he bounds over furniture before laying out his skydiving plan, Matt is as single-minded as ever. “We are trapped in 2008. How can this get us a show at the Rivoli?” he says later in the film, while Jay plays the collected straight man to his energy impeccably.

There are other moments in the film that just have to be seen to be believed, including Matt’s realization of their time-travel predicament during a screening of “The Hangover” and many laugh-out-loud cameos. So much of the film is purely animated by Johnson and McCarrol’s manic energy on and off screen, as they reference and remix with confidence while maintaining their enthralling back-and-forth.

From a technical standpoint, Johnson rockets the mockumentary approach of the original show to new heights. The film is the cinematic equivalent of a clown car reassembled with Formula 1 parts. Handheld camerawork matches the duo’s vivacious presence, on top of making for a delightfully organic view of Toronto. The camera jumps and weaves around Matt and Jay, lending a natural feel while adding to the movie’s fourth wall-shattering action, like one scene where cameraman Jared Raab interrupts Matt and Jay’s dialogue.

“Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” seamlessly edits Matt and Jay around archival footage from 2008, the present-day duo gawking at iPod and “Grand Theft Auto” posters in Yonge-Dundas Square when they first launch back in time. Other choices are equally immersive while keeping the film’s humor at a fever pitch, like when Jared swaps to period-accurate cameras to help Matt and Jay blend in. As an offbeat stylistic touch, the film employs gray slow motion replays, like a joke the audience is slowly drawn in on.

Amid a whirlwind of off-the-wall stunts and hilarious lines, Johnson and McCarrol still manage to undergird the film with an ample amount of heart. Even before they blast into the past, Matt’s hijinks brush up against Jay weighing his plans to pursue a solo career. As the duo gets separated and tries to return to the present, we get some especially heartfelt moments. For instance, as the two hide in their old apartment, Matt expresses how getting old is difficult and that he is not looking forward to it. This particular exchange amplifies the film’s emotional core in a refreshingly sincere manner, anchoring the film all the way up to its surprisingly moving ending.

“Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie” is lightning in a bottle in the truest sense of the phrase. If you’re planning on watching it in theaters, thank your lucky stars indeed.

Contact Kaleo Zhu at [email protected].