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24 Hour Party People

24 Hour Party People

Comedy · Drama · Music · 2002

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.

Movie details

24 Hour Party People

“Share the Ecstacy!”

2002 Comedy · Drama · Music 1h 57m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson is an ambitious but frustrated local TV news reporter looking for a way to make his mark. After witnessing a life-changing concert by a band known as the Sex Pistols, he persuades his station to televise one of their performances, and soon Manchester's punk groups are clamoring for him to manage them. Riding the wave of a musical revolution, Wilson and his friends create the legendary Factory Records label and The Hacienda club.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over 24 Hour Party People?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Michael Winterbottom

Written by

Frank Cottrell Boyce

Steve Coogan

Steve Coogan

Tony Wilson

Lennie James

Lennie James

Alan

Paddy Considine

Paddy Considine

Rob

Shirley Henderson

Shirley Henderson

Lindsay

Andy Serkis

Andy Serkis

Martin

John Simm

John Simm

Bernard

Ralf Little

Ralf Little

Hooky

Court is in session

Put 24 Hour Party People on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.