Film

The Twentieth Century

Name: The Twentieth Century
Genre: Comedy
Released: 2019
Cast: Dan Beirne, Sarianne Cormier, Catherine St-Laurent, Mikhaïl Ahooja, Brent Skagford

A wildly inventive Canadian comedy that reimagines the young Mackenzie King's rise to power as a surreal fever dream. Black-and-white, deliberately artificial, and gloriously strange—it plays like Monty Python collided with a history textbook written by someone on no sleep. For anyone who loves ambitious weirdness over conventional storytelling.

TMDb rating

3.2

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy comedy that treats a national origin myth as a fever dream, and you don't mind being left to work out the joke yourself.

Skip it if you need a plot that builds steadily toward a clear point, because its rhythm is loose, repetitive and happy to wander off course.

What it asks of you: Ninety minutes, mostly in stylized tableaux and deadpan asides, so it asks you to keep up with its odd logic and let the strangeness accumulate rather than resolve.

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

If you liked this

The Death of Stalin2017

Armando Iannucci's blackly comic take on Soviet bureaucracy after Stalin's death. Like *The Twentieth Century*, it treats historical chaos as comedy gold and refuses reverence toward powerful men.

But It's relentlessly cynical and moves fast. If you want warmth or a clear hero, you won't find either here.

Withnail & I1987

A cult classic about two hapless unemployed actors. Shares the same deadpan commitment to absurdity and the same ragged affection for its deeply flawed protagonist.

But Pacing is deliberately slack. The humour is dry and won't land if you're not in sync with its rhythm.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail1975

Anarchic, silly, utterly uninterested in historical accuracy. Like *The Twentieth Century*, it builds laughs by treating its subject matter with cheerful irreverence.

But Some sketches overstay their welcome. The humour dates unevenly—some bits kill, others feel thin.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Twentieth Century

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie1972

Both use deliberate artificiality and circular storytelling to expose the absurdity of powerful people's pretensions. Buñuel just does it in colour, in Spanish, and with existential dread.

Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece about wealthy people repeatedly unable to eat dinner. Like *The Twentieth Century*, it uses dream logic and repetition to mock ambition and social climbing—but it's genuinely unsettling where *Twentieth Century* is playful.

But It's slow, elliptical, and resists plot. If you need narrative momentum or a resolution, you'll find neither.

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie poster

The Ladykillers1955

A small-scale Ealing comedy about criminals in over their heads. Shares the same theatrical energy and fondness for watched schemes falling apart.

But It's gentler and more polite than what you're after. The comedy never aims to unsettle.

In the Loop2009

Armando Iannucci again—a viciously smart political satire. Fast, vicious dialogue and a refusal to let anyone off the hook for their ambitions.

But The plotting is deliberately confusing and the insults are relentless. If you need clarity or likeable characters, stop here.

Four Lions2010

Chris Morris's comedy about incompetent extremists. Treats dark subject matter as the setup for character comedy—absurd, committed, genuinely risky.

But The subject matter is serious and the film never lets you entirely off the hook morally. Laughter sits uncomfortably.

Brazil1985

Terry Gilliam's dystopian nightmare, deliberately artificial and obsessed with bureaucratic entanglement. Shares the same commitment to visual strangeness and ambitious weirdness.

But It's visually overwhelming and narratively dense. Easy to get lost; harder to follow why.

The Grand Budapest Hotel2014

Wes Anderson's meticulously composed comedy about an old concierge and his protégé. Like *The Twentieth Century*, it's a carefully constructed world that runs on its own logic.

But The stylization is so thick it can feel cold. If you need emotional stakes, it doesn't quite deliver.

Hunt for the Wilderpeople2016

Taika Waititi's affectionate comedy about a grumpy old man and a foster kid in the New Zealand bush. Funny and unexpectedly warm.

But It pivots toward sentiment in the final act. After the weirder stuff, the earnestness might feel unearned.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!1988

Both treat comedy as a structural principle rather than decoration. Every shot is designed to land a joke; plot is almost incidental.

Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker's densely gag-packed absurdist comedy. Shares *The Twentieth Century*'s commitment to piling on visual and verbal jokes at industrial speed, never pausing for breath.

But The humour is almost entirely gag-based. If you hate puns and slapstick, or need character development, this will drive you up the wall.