Even if you’ve never once set foot in a movie theater, you probably know about AMC’s Nicole Kidman ad. It’s a spot so serious — so wildly self-important — that it’s taken on a life of its own. Shot by an Oscar nominee, written by an Oscar nominee and starring a four-time winner walking in the rain, it’s practically begging for a Saturday Night Live parody. This weekend, it finally got one.
The sketch might be a little late; the ad first appeared over a year ago. It’s been hashed and rehashed online countless times. Tweets have been shared, drag queens have posted reaction videos, T-shirts have been printed. But when it comes to this commercial for a product inside the product itself that you’ve already paid to see (they don’t print milk ads inside the carton, do they?), it’s possible there is no expiration date on this one.
Chloe Fineman turns her Australian accent up to 11 to portray Kidman, chewing up all the scenery while slinking up stairs and making uncomfortable eye contact with fellow movie patron Kenan Thompson. Another patron, James Austin Johnson, stands and salutes the screen. Lest you think this is too over the top, a man actually did this at a screening of Top Gun: Maverick back in May.
Others in the theater begin standing as the music goes from patriotic to cultish. They begin chanting the line, “Heartbreak feels good in a place like this,” and why not? It was scripted by an Oscar nominee, gosh darn it. Kidman begins levitating and sparking as if possessed by either the spirit of cinema or possibly Raiden, the God of Thunder. Only Thompson and Punkie Johnson clock that anything is wrong as Kidman shakes the building’s foundations with her power.
It’s a pretty silly sketch, but maybe it doesn’t go far enough. The ad has already inspired near Rocky Horror Picture Show levels of ironic adulation. Why stop with lightning? Why not gouts of blood, burning fields, TIE fighters screaming into the trenches of the Death Star to stop legions of movie goers from firing torpedoes into the exhaust port? Though, considering AMC’s already working on a sequel to the commercial, maybe SNL is just saving it for Part 2.
Elsewhere in the episode, ManningCast offered a play-by-play of the rebuilding of this year’s cold open, plus, find out why Cecily Strong was MIA from the new opening credits.
Now it’s your turn. Grade the premiere below, then drop some comments!
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