Film
Jabberwocky
Terry Gilliam's grimy medieval fantasy-comedy where a bumbling cooper's son stumbles into monster-slaying and courtly chaos. It's a mud-caked, anarchic romp through a grotesque kingdom—absurdist, occasionally dark, frequently hilarious. For anyone who loves Monty Python's surreal logic but craves something visually deranged and entirely its own.
If you liked this
Monty Python and the Holy Grail1975
Similar anarchic energy and medieval setting, with the same absurdist humor and complete disregard for narrative logic. A kindred spirit from the same creative family.
But The sketch-comedy structure means it's deliberately uneven; some gags land harder than others, and patience is required.
The Princess Bride1987
An adventure fantasy that's genuinely funny without losing stakes or wonder. It has warmth where Jabberwocky has grotesquerie, but shares the same irreverent joy in its own story.
But Far more polished and romantic; if you want the gritty, deliberately ugly side of fantasy, this is too pretty.
Time Bandits1981
Another Gilliam film where a nobody gets swept into a surreal adventure across impossible spaces. Same visual inventiveness, same collision of the mundane and the magical.
But More plotted and family-friendly than Jabberwocky; some find it cutesy where Jabberwocky is savage.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Jabberwocky
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Phantom Carriage1921
Both films are obsessed with rendering death and monstrosity as physicially present rather than metaphorical—you see it move through their worlds. Jabberwocky treats the monster as real; this treats death as real.
A Swedish ghost story from 1921 that's visually stunning and morally terrifying. Medieval in its atmosphere and theology, grotesque in its devotion to showing death as something grotesquely present and real.
But Silent, slow-paced, and genuinely bleak. It's art cinema from a century ago, not comedy.
More like this (6)
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover1989
A baroque fantasy of violence and appetite set in a grotesque, deliberately ugly world. It shares Jabberwocky's refusal to make anything beautiful, and its anarchic contempt for decorum.
But Visceral, sexually explicit, and genuinely disturbing in ways Jabberwocky never attempts. Not a fun watch, exactly.
Brazil1985
Gilliam's dystopian masterpiece, equally deranged and visually inventive. A hero stumbles through a nightmarish bureaucratic maze that's both hilarious and despairing.
But Bleak and tightly plotted where Jabberwocky is loose and picaresque; it builds toward genuine tragedy rather than just chaos.
Labyrinth1986
A young woman navigates a surreal fantasy realm full of grotesque creatures and elaborate set design. It has similar visual audacity and a similar willingness to make beauty and ugliness coexist.
But Far more cohesive and emotionally grounded; if you love Jabberwocky's complete lack of sentimentality, this might feel saccharine.
Withnail & I1987
Two no-hopers blunder through absurd situations with deadpan English wit. Less visually spectacular than Jabberwocky but equally anarchic in its comic logic.
But Dialogue-heavy and subtle; the humor is in the words rather than visual grotesquerie, and it requires patience with very likeable failures.
Conan the Barbarian1982
A muscle-bound fantasy with operatic absurdity and practical monster designs. It takes itself just seriously enough to make the ridiculousness landmine-tier funny.
But The sword-and-sorcery earnestness might clash with what you loved about Jabberwocky's deliberate irreverence.
The NeverEnding Story1984
Both envision fantasy worlds as places of genuine decay and ugliness—there's nothing glossy about either one. But where Jabberwocky laughs at collapse, this grieves it.
A German-American fantasy where a boy reads himself into a dying magical world. It has the same tactile ugliness, the same refusal to make magic safe or clean.
But Emotional and earnest in a way Jabberwocky steadfastly refuses to be. If you want to feel nothing, this will exhaust you.
People
Cast
Michael PalinDennis Cooper
Harry H. CorbettSquire
John Le MesurierPasselewe
Warren MitchellMr. Fishfinger
Max WallKing Bruno the Questionable
Rodney BewesThe Other Squire
John Bird1st Herald
Bernard BresslawThe Landlord
Deborah FallenderThe Princess
Derek FrancisBishop
Annette BadlandGriselda Fishfinger
Kenneth Colley1st Fanatic
Directing
- Terry GilliamDirector
Writing
- Charles AlversonScreenplay
- Terry GilliamScreenplay
Production
- Irene LambCasting
- John GoldstoneExecutive Producer
- Julian DoyleProducer
- Sanford LiebersonProducer
- Bill CampProduction Manager
- Joyce HerlihyProduction Supervisor