Mischief. Mayhem. Soap.

Toxic masculinity never looked so good! The Rio Theatre's deep dive into Y2K-era millennial goodness wouldn't be complete without a prime time screening of David Fincher's adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's blockbuster novel about a bored office worker and his soap-making friend, FIGHT CLUB. In 1999, Fincher's cinematic take on millennial malaise turned an equally blockbuster film thanks to standout direction from Fincher and memorable performances from Ed Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Jared Leto, and.... Meat Loaf.

"It is working American Beauty-Susan Faludi territory, that illiberal, impious, inarticulate fringe that threatens the smug American center with an anger that cannot explain itself, can act out its frustrations only in inexplicable violence." (Time Magazine)

"The film’s bold, bruising humor leaves marks on a wide range of hot-button issues: It’s about being young, male and powerless against the pacifying drug of consumerism. It’s about solitude, despair and bottled-up rage. It’s about how not to feel dead as Y2K approaches. It’s about daring to imagine the disenfranchised reducing the world to rubble and starting over." (Rolling Stone Magazine)

"There are so many ways to read Fight Club that it's almost impossible to know where to start. Is it a fascistic call to action for a generation of dickless wonders? A homoerotic love story in which Jack is reintroduced to his nads before being carried off in Tyler's pneumatic arms? A satire on modern feminism's cartoonish views of what men are like, or...? Well, have a go yourself. It's half the fun." (Empire Magazine)

Saturday, August 17
Doors 9:45 pm | Movie 10:15 pm *Start time subject to change. Please arrive on time.

FIGHT CLUB (David Fincher, 1999 / DCP / 139 mins / 18A) | A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.