Overview
A darkly comedic exploration of friendship and revenge unfolds in the halls of high school.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Brutal
- witty
- awkward
- unsettling
- indie film night
- discussion group viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a fresh, compelling, and surprisingly twisted deconstruction of bullying and violent revenge, supported by likable characters and an inventive debut direction.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Matt and Owen’s revenge comedy project increasingly reveals that the supposedly playful premise has genuine violent intent.
The school film project functions both as a staged comedy and as a vehicle for actions that are not merely fictional.
The friends frame retaliation against bullies as entertainment while the film exposes the destructive consequences of that thinking.
The mockumentary and found-footage presentation makes school life and the escalating revenge plan feel immediate, improvised, and unnervingly close.
Films like The Dirties, and why
Project X
shares found-footage comedy, high-school bullying, male friendship, and an increasingly disturbing examination of revenge
Man Bites Dog
shares mockumentary form, adolescent alienation, dark humor, and escalating real-world consequences
Elephant
shares teenage outsider perspective, school violence, awkward male friendship, and bleakly comic social critique
American Movie
shares DIY filmmaking, adolescent rebellion, uncomfortable comedy, and a collision between performance and reality
Movie Details
- Director
- Matt Johnson
- Release Date
- 2013-10-04
- Runtime
- 83 min
- Rating
- 6.4 / 10 (158)
Cast
- Matt Johnson
- Owen Williams
- Krista Madison
- Shailene Garnett
- Jay McCarrol
- Brandon Wickens
- Josh Boles
- Padraig Singal
- Ross Hill
- Alireza Shojaei
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+
- Rent
- Google Play Movies, YouTube
- Buy
- Google Play Movies, YouTube
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Dirties about?
- A seemingly playful student film about punishing high-school bullies becomes an unnerving study of friendship, violent revenge, and the danger of mistaking performance for reality.
- What is The Dirties like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Dirties as brisk, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Dirties violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Dirties as brutal.
- What did critics think of The Dirties?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a fresh, compelling, and surprisingly twisted deconstruction of bullying and violent revenge, supported by likable characters and an inventive debut direction.
- Which films are like The Dirties?
- Films with a similar feel include Project X, Man Bites Dog, Elephant, and American Movie.
- How long is The Dirties?
- The Dirties runs 83 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Dirties?
- In United States, The Dirties streams on AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+.
