Southland Tales

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2:27

Southland Tales

R

2007

2h 24m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

41%

Tomatometer

106 Reviews

41%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

With the United States under the threat of nuclear attack, the lives of several people converge in a dystopian Los Angeles. Movie star Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) plans his next film with the help of ambitious porn actress Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and troubled policeman Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott). Meanwhile, Marxist revolutionaries, greedy corporations and secretive government agencies pursue their separate agendas among a paranoid populace.

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Critics Consensus

Southland Tales, while offering an intriguing vision of the future, remains frustratingly incoherent and unpolished.

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Philippa Snow

New Statesman

Jun 3, 2020

Southland Tales is dizzyingly maximalist, never happy with one set-piece if it can introduce five. It is unhinged, and occasionally exhilarating, and quite often funny.

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Mark Olsen

Film Comment Magazine

Nov 19, 2013

As the follow-up to his debut feature, the unexpectedly enduring teen-movie/sci-fi hybrid Donnie Darko, writer-director Richard Kelly has crafted an even more ambitious and far-reaching story

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Anthony Quinn

Independent (UK)

Dec 7, 2007

1/5

They've left it late, but writer-director Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko) and his team have gone and scooped The Independent's Worst Film of 2007 award - against stiff competition, too.

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Justin Micallef

Vague Visages

Feb 6, 2024

To catch the eye of Southland Tales is to look back on our past and future simultaneously, on the limitations of our technology and the humanity that screeches through it.

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Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

Mar 26, 2022

4/5

A radical, swirling hallucination of ideas that all feel grabbed at random.

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Jason Shawhan

Nashville Scene

Sep 10, 2021

Sprawling, chaotic, stuffed to the gills with unexpected character actors and filled with apocalyptic mayhem, 2006's Southland Tales had a vision of where America was headed.

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matt S

@RT11300200 Jul 6, 2026

I thought it was great. Loved the strangeness to it. It kept my crazy mind interested throughout its entirety.

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Dirk J

@RT13583270 May 23, 2026

I love this movie. It's just perfectly weird. In my eyes, a masterpiece. It' also kind of relevant in the days we live in now. I really don't care if you watch it or not. I did and I loved it.

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Keriel T.

@kerielflacoboy Apr 11, 2026

I was pretty confused with Dwayne Johnson in this movie because I don’t know why he always look so scared for the entire movie it felt like he was a introvert and also why were there two clones of Seann William Scott in this movie, this has to be the most confusing movie I ever watched but I still applause to this movie but please do not let or force your kids to watch this because obviously is rated r and it says a lot of bad words and some racism in this movie which can be confusing and unexplained.

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Melissa L

@Agent99 Mar 22, 2026

I thought it was pretty bad. All the well-known stars in it couldn't change that.

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thiago s

@Thiagostone Nov 14, 2025

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, a história é fraca, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, os personagens são fracos, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e relevantes, para fazer o filme ser bom

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Jeffrey P

@vanillavoodoo1 Sep 21, 2025

Been awhile since I've seen this, I've always held it in high regard as a top tier dystopian sci-fi feature and now, upon further viewing, I see that it is also very well written, a lot better than it gets credit for. I am honestly surprised that it is still not regarded higher, or even considered a cult classic.

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Richard Kelly

Director

Dwayne Johnson

Boxer Santaros

Seann William Scott

Roland Taverner

Sarah Michelle Gellar

Krysta Kapowski

Curtis Armstrong

Dr. Soberin Exx

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Brandt Huntington

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Southland Tales: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

With the United States under the threat of nuclear attack, the lives of several people converge in a dystopian Los Angeles. Movie star Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) plans his next film with the help of ambitious porn actress Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and troubled policeman Roland Taverner (Seann William Scott). Meanwhile, Marxist revolutionaries, greedy corporations and secretive government agencies pursue their separate agendas among a paranoid populace.

Director: Richard Kelly
Producer: Sean McKittrick, Kendall Morgan, Bo Hyde, Matthew Rhodes
Screenwriter: Richard Kelly
Distributor: Destination Films, Samuel Goldwyn Company
Production Co: Cherry Road Films LLC
Rating: R (Sexual Material|Language|Some Drug Content|Violence)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 14, 2007, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 27, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $273.4K
Runtime: 2h 24m

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