This is Spinal Tap (15)

Rob Reiner’s landmark mockumentary remains the gold standard of music comedy, as sharp and funny today as it was in 1984.

Presented as a rock documentary following Britain’s loudest band on a calamitous US tour, it captures the tragicomic egos, delusions, and sheer absurdity of life in music. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer are flawless as the clueless core trio, improvising their way through moments so perfectly pitched they blur the line between parody and reality. From a Stonehenge stage prop that arrives doll-sized to amplifiers that go up to eleven, every gag lands with deadpan brilliance, paired with a strangely affectionate view of its hopeless heroes.

What makes it endure is not just the endlessly quotable script or pitch-perfect songs but its deep understanding of the gap between rock-star fantasy and cringeworthy reality. The film does not simply mock the band; it reveals the fragile egos and desperation for relevance beneath the bravado.

Forty years on, this remains a hilarious, painful, and deeply human portrait of people forever chasing greatness and falling gloriously short