24 Hour Party People

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24 Hour Party People

R

2002

1h 57m

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

87%

Tomatometer

102 Reviews

87%

Popcornmeter

25,000+ Ratings

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) 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.

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Critics Consensus

The colorful, chaotic 24 Hour Party People nimbly captures the spirit of the Manchester music scene.

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Kevin Maher

The Times (UK)

Oct 9, 2026

5/5

It looked chaotic, it seemed improvised and yet the script was built upon a plethora of epigrammatic zingers written by Cottrell-Boyce.

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

Oct 8, 2026

4/5

The loose, baggy energy is what makes this film so watchable, and yet it sometimes feels formless, with something detached in Winterbottom’s direction.

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Aug 26, 2010

4/5

Excellent movie about punk's origins; older teens only.

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Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Willamette Week

Apr 2, 2026

The shifty protagonist lends himself a tone brilliantly managed by director Michael Winterbottom.

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Apr 6, 2024

Director Michael Winterbottom’s sprawling, jagged film is happily, even willfully unreliable as history and it embraces the tug-of-war between factual events and the stories and legends that have around them.

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Farah Cheded

A Good Movie To Watch

Nov 25, 2023

24 Hour Party People takes the same punk approach to storytelling as its subjects did to music, playfully throwing off the dull constraints that often make based-on-a-true-story movies feel like uninspired celluloid translations of a Wikipedia page.

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Luca D.

@JoeCamel7 Jan 8, 2026

Interesting story, even though most of it is fictionalized. The movie is entertaining at best. The acting is decent and it doesn't really have direction. It's not totally historically accurate but also not well written from a fictional standpoint, so it's kind of just a jumble of loose historical figures, flashing lights, and good music. Probably won't watch again. If you want to watch for the joy division part just watch Control instead.

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Peter F

@RT64944199 Jun 7, 2025

One of a few essential party movies made in the UK. This, along with Human Traffic, are how party movies should be made.

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Dani G

@RT81139271 Feb 17, 2025

Kind of the same with other label record stories, and also a little annoying editing

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Chris H

@RT60525826 Feb 26, 2024

Coogan is very good in this but there are spot on turns aplenty from the rest of the cast. The story itself begins with the stirring and brilliant punk music of the late 70s, but turns (too) rapidly to the turgid, trippy noises of the Happy Mondays. Between these two lie Joy Division and their songs in this film inspired me to listen to a lot of their music online. The contrast between innovative talent (JD) and drug fuelled nothingness (HM) is disappointing to behold, but it is what the Hacienda was all about; so it goes.

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Jim P

@RT08384096 Feb 7, 2024

As an old guy from the North of England I grew up loving this kind of music. But I didn't think much of this movie the first time I saw it, back in the day… However, I've just seen it again and it's brilliant! Tongue-in-cheek with an awesome soundtrack!

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Torin F

@nonlinearize Aug 2, 2023

Factory Records. Joy Division. New Order. Happy Mondays. Manchester. From punk to rave, 24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE chronicles a unique period in music history with an engaging stylistic approach. In depicting the excesses of its title, the film does drag a bit during its two-hour run time. Overall, however, and regardless of your affinity with this particular music scene, its an artful and thoroughly entertaining excursion.

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Michael Winterbottom

Director

Steve Coogan

Anthony Wilson

Lennie James

Alan Erasmus

Shirley Henderson

Lindsey Wilson

Paddy Considine

Rob Gretton

Andy Serkis

Martin Hannett

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Synopsis

Manchester, 1976. Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan) 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.

Director: Michael Winterbottom
Producer: Andrew Eaton
Screenwriter: Frank Cottrell Boyce
Distributor: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Production Co: Miramax
Rating: R (Sexuality|Drug Use|Strong Language)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 9, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 16, 2008
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.1M
Runtime: 1h 57m
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo, Dolby A, SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR

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