Film
The Dirties
Two filmmaking best friends blur the line between their movie project and real life as they chronicle their revenge fantasies against school bullies. Shot like a found-footage mockumentary, it's darkly funny and genuinely unsettling—a film that trusts you to sit with ambiguity about where performance ends and something scarier begins. For anyone who loves comedy that doesn't look away from its own ugliness.
If you liked this
Revenge of the Nerds1984
The OG nerd-revenge comedy, with charm and heart beneath the surface schadenfreude. It's funny about social hierarchy without ever losing sight of how much bullying actually hurts.
But The humor is very 1980s, and some of it lands differently now—occasionally more uncomfortable than intended.

Eighth Grade2018
Bo Burnham's portrait of adolescent social warfare is crushingly accurate and funny in the same breath. It captures the specific loneliness of being thirteen online.
But It's painful to watch. There's no catharsis, just the weight of growing up in public.

Bully2011
Lee Hirsch's documentary about endemic school bullying hits hard and straight. It's angry and necessary, and it takes kids' experiences seriously.
But It's relentlessly grim. There are no easy answers, and the system's indifference is maddening.

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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Assassination of a High School President2008
Both use genre (revenge thriller, noir) as a Trojan horse to explore something darker and more complicated about adolescence and performance. Both ask: where's the line between playing a role and being the role?
Noir mystery set in high school, complete with femme fatales and hardboiled dialogue. It's funny about genre convention while also being genuinely clever about teenage social politics.
But It's a very self-conscious comedy that requires you to enjoy watching itself be clever. The tone is arch in a way that might feel exhausting.

More like this (8)
Heathers1989
The gold standard for dark high school comedy-drama. It's vicious and smart about social hierarchies, and it never lets the audience off easy morally.
But It's dated in some ways, and the nihilism can feel performative if you're not in the mood.

Welcome to the Dollhouse1996
Todd Solondz captures the specific hell of being an unpopular girl in middle school with uncomfortable precision. Awkward, sad, and darkly funny all at once.
But It's deeply uncomfortable by design. Nothing is resolved, and the world remains hostile throughout.

Men Behaving Badly1992
British comedy about male friendship and stupidity. It's silly but observant about how friendships justify increasingly bad behavior for laughs.
But The humor is very laddish, and some of the casual misogyny hasn't aged well.

Freaky Friday2003
Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan's body-swap comedy works because it respects both the teenager and the parent perspective. Smart about generational gaps.
But It's fundamentally earnest and sweet—if you want something darker, this will feel too safe.

Superbad2007
Two best friends navigating high school social survival. It's funny about male friendship and insecurity without ever punching down at the vulnerable.
But It's been quoted to death, and seeing it now, it's almost too comfortable and likeable.

Kids1995
Gritty, unflinching portrait of teenage New York. It doesn't moralize or protect you, and it has a documentary-like quality that echoes The Dirties' found-footage DNA.
But It's genuinely disturbing and exploitative in places. There's a reason it was controversial—some viewers will find it unwatchable.

Project X2012
Both use handheld video and the documentary format to collapse the distance between performance and reality. Both catch the moment when a dare becomes something uncontrollable.
Found-footage party film that captures the specific chaos of teenage ambition and peer pressure. It's rowdy and funny, but underneath is real anxiety about status and belonging.
But It's deliberately chaotic and loud. Some will see it as shallow celebration of bad behavior rather than critique.

After School2008
Both examine the distance between intention and outcome in adolescent male fantasy. Both are formally strange and refuse the comfort of easy moral clarity. Both insist you stay uncomfortable.
Antonio Campos' minimalist portrait of a private school shooting combines found-footage elements with deadpan observation. It's formally experimental and morally complex in ways that demand your full attention.
But It's very slow, very deliberate, and completely refuses to explain or judge. Many will find it cold and remote—you have to meet it where it is.

People
Cast
Matt JohnsonMatt
Owen WilliamsOwen
Krista MadisonChrissy H.
Shailene GarnettKrissy B.
Jay McCarrolMr. Bird
Brandon WickensJackman
Josh BolesBoozy
Padraig SingalBoy in Park 1- Ross HillBoy in Park 2
Alireza ShojaeiAlan- Paul Daniel AyotteLaren
- Jordan FosterDylan
Directing
- Matt GreysonAssistant Director
- Matt JohnsonDirector
Writing
- Josh BolesStory
- Matthew MillerStory Editor
- Evan MorganWriter
- Matt JohnsonWriter
Production
- Ashley BowesCasting
- Alison ArnotExecutive Producer
- Step JohnsonExecutive Producer
- Evan MorganProducer
- Jared RaabProducer
- Matt JohnsonProducer
- Matthew MillerProducer
- Matthew MillerProduction Manager