Richard Kelly’s Southland Tales is likely to be one of many strangest films ever made.
Richard Kelly, the director and author of Donnie Darko, launched Southland Tales in 2006, 5 years after Donnie Darko. It’s one of many strangest films ever made; so unusual, that it hardly appears like a film. It appears like a chaotic fever dream with a purely incomprehensible plot.
But what makes the movie much more provocative—and enjoyable to revisit—is that Kelly by some means secured a forged of Hollywood A-listers and a large funds to convey it to life. Now, Richard Kelly is actively shopping a sequel, Southland Tales 2, however the query stays: will anybody finance it, given how badly the primary one flopped?
I, for one, would love Southland Tales 2, and right here I current you with just a few superb gems and info in regards to the first one.
The A-list forged is totally bonkers.
Contents
- 1 The A-list forged is totally bonkers.
- 2 The film is known as a bunch of TikTok clips, despite the fact that it was made approach earlier than TikTok.
- 3 Economically, ekk! Take a look at these field workplace numbers.
- 4 Justin Timberlake lip-synched to The Killers within the movie whereas coated in blood.
- 5 It’s an uncannily prophetic movie.

Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) performs an amnesiac motion star who’s married to Mandy Moore.
Justin Timberlake seems as an Iraq Battle veteran hooked on a fictional drug referred to as Liquid Karma. Sarah Michelle Gellar stars as Krysta Lynn Kapowski (aka Krysta Now), a porn star-turned-influencer.
Amy Poehler is a punk neo-Marxist, whereas Seann William Scott performs a cop fighting a Donnie Darko-esque psychological situation that enables him to see the long run.
Even Cheri Oteri reveals up as a media manipulator obsessive about power drinks and nail polish. The forged record alone appears like a surreal joke. Richard Kelly Southland Tales
The film is known as a bunch of TikTok clips, despite the fact that it was made approach earlier than TikTok.
Southland Tales isn’t actually a film—it’s a postmodern collage of surreal skits, conspiratorial rants, choreographed stunts, and political commentary. It’s a film that appears like a scrapbook of fragmented concepts, and its chaotic nature mirrors the scrolling, content-heavy world of social media.
Economically, ekk! Take a look at these field workplace numbers.
The movie earned lower than $300,000 on the field workplace on a $17 million funds. Kelly later adopted this film with The Field, which grossed simply over $30 million worldwide on a $25 million funds, higher, however nonetheless nothing like Donnie Darko. Richard Kellys southland tales
Justin Timberlake lip-synched to The Killers within the movie whereas coated in blood.

In one of many movie’s most memorable sequences, and TikTok-esque scenes, Justin Timberlake lip-syncs to The Killers’ “All These Issues That I’ve Performed” whereas excessive on Liquid Karma. The scene options Timberlake wandering by an arcade surrounded by dancing girls and surreal visuals. It’s as absurd because it sounds and completely encapsulates the movie’s tone.
It’s an uncannily prophetic movie.

Right here is only one straightforward instance of the prophecy of the movie. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character, Krysta Now — a porn star turned influencer and enterprise mogul — embodies the convergence of non-public branding and media sensationalism that might explode within the 2010s and 2020s.
That is simply the tip of the iceberg, because the movie touches on many elements of important points in 2025: surveillance, conspiracy theories run rampant, artificial medication, the time-warping results of social media; oh and Phrase Battle III…
It’s laborious to search out Southland Tales streaming on any main platform, however you’ll be able to rent it on Amazon, and even purchase the blu-ray. You can even purchase it on Apple TV. Give it watch should you’re adventurous, and perhaps we may help Southland Tales 2 financed.