Film

Dogma

Name: Dogma
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure
Released: 1999
Cast: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek Pinault, Jason Lee

Kevin Smith's 1999 comedy about two fallen angels trying to slip back into Heaven, derailing creation itself. Irreverent, surprisingly thoughtful, stuffed with New Jersey slacker energy and genuine theological questions wrapped in fart jokes. For anyone who loves pop-culture riffing, '90s weirdness, and movies that argue with God.

TMDb rating

3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy irreverent, dialogue-heavy comedy that argues about faith with real curiosity and gleeful profanity, the way Kevin Smith's talky, scrappy films do, rather than preachy satire.

Skip it if you find crude, nonstop Catholic-baiting and a stream of pop-culture chatter wearing thin, since the jokes lean on bluntness and repetition more than on subtlety.

What it asks of you: It runs over two hours and is mostly conversation on the road, so it wants patience for long stretches of talk before the set pieces arrive, with a lot of shifting between silliness and sincere debate.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Chasing Amy1997

Another Kevin Smith joint with the same verbal dexterity and New Jersey charm. A romantic comedy that's genuinely interested in how people talk, hurt each other, and change—wrapped in comics-world detail and real heart.

But The '90s indie earnestness hasn't aged in every direction. Some of the relationship dynamics will feel dated or uncomfortable, depending where you stand.

Clerks1994

The film that made Smith's reputation: two guys behind a counter arguing about Star Wars, sexuality, mortality. Black-and-white, shot in a real convenience store, funnier and stranger than it has any right to be. Pure Smith DNA.

But Deliberately crude and unpolished. If you want technical film-making or a tight narrative, this is a test of patience in grayscale.

The Big Lebowski1998

Coen Brothers anarchic comedy full of digressions, weird characters, and dialogue that loops back on itself. Jeff Bridges as a man who barely cares. Bowling, drugs, philosophy, kidnapping. Every frame is funny.

But The plot barely exists and the pace is deliberately slack. If you need momentum and resolution, you'll find yourself checking your watch.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Dogma

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch2001

Both films use transgression and theological doubt as comedy fuel, and both believe that asking uncomfortable questions about identity, belonging, and the divine is the whole point.

A glam-rock musical about a trans rock star following her ex-lover's band across the country. John Cameron Mitchell wrote it, directed it, and stars in it. Filthy, hilarious, crushing, with songs that will rewire your brain. It's as irreverent about identity and religion as Dogma is about Heaven.

But It's shocking in ways designed to make you uncomfortable. The graphic sexual content and gender themes will alienate people looking for mainstream comedy.

Mallrats1995

Smith's second film, a raucous comedy about two guys spending a day at a New Jersey mall. Stan Lee cameo. Video game jokes. A dating show climax that goes to weird places. Pure '90s goofball energy.

But It's a very '90s time capsule and the MTV pacing hasn't worn well. Some sequences feel endless without landing the joke.

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back2001

The weed-smoking duo from Clerks and Dogma get a road movie. Smith's love letter to comic-book culture and the characters who inhabit it. Self-aware, absurd, and unapologetically dumb in a way that's completely earnest.

But It's basically a 90-minute in-joke for Smith devotees. If you haven't seen his earlier films, you'll be lost and baffled.

Heathers1989

Dark satire of high school where Winona Ryder and Christian Slater plot against the popular kids. Black comedy that's actually dark, with real menace under the jokes. Sharp script, perfect performances, wildly influential.

But It's genuinely bleak and the teen suicide premise won't play as fun to everyone. Tonally it's asking a lot of the audience.

Raising Arizona1987

Coen Brothers comedy about a paroled robber and his wife stealing a baby from a furniture magnate. Nicolas Cage in full manic mode, absurd situations, language that sings. Visually gorgeous and weird as hell.

But The deadpan comedy won't connect if you're not on the wavelength. Some people just don't find it funny.

Ghostbusters II1989

The sequel nobody asked for but which has genuine charm. The team dealing with a ghost-possessed baby and rivers of slime in New York. More lowbrow than the original and weirdly endearing for it. Peter MacNicol steals every scene.

But It's widely regarded as a step down from the original. You'd be better served watching the first one if you haven't already.

Hudson Hawk1991

Bruce Willis as a cat burglar who sings opera, stealing masterpieces with help from his singing buddy. Absolute chaos, Danny Aiello, Sandra Bernhard as a nun. The film is a fever dream of '90s excess and doesn't care if you follow it.

But It's a famous box-office bomb for reasons that become clear fast. The tone is completely unhinged and it's genuinely hard to watch.

Saved!2004

Like Dogma, it's a film that loves the culture it's mocking, full of religious detail wielded as comedy, and it believes you can be irreverent and sincere at the same time.

A Christian high school musical comedy that treats evangelical culture with satirical affection rather than contempt. Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin in drag. It's bright, caustic, weird, and full of genuine character moments between the zingers.

But The tone is uneven—it swings between biting satire and actual sentiment. Some jokes don't land and the tonal whiplash can feel cheap.

Synecdoche, New York2008

Both films are obsessed with the problem of transcendence—how do you reach something divine or true in the real world? Both answer: through messy, imperfect, very human striving. Both believe the chaos is the point.

Charlie Kaufman's baroque masterpiece about a theater director building a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse, losing himself in the maze. Ambitious, devastating, formally daring. It's about art, death, identity, and the human need to make meaning from chaos.

But It's deliberately confusing, emotionally exhausting, and doesn't resolve neatly. It asks as much of you as it asks of itself, and some people will find that exhausting rather than rewarding.