“The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready; it goes on because it’s 11:30.” – Lorne Michaels 

It’s 10 p.m. on Oct. 11, 1975. Lorne Michaels stands outside of NBC’s building in the bustling streets of New York City. 90 minutes. That’s all he, and the entire cast and crew of NBC’s new late-night sketch comedy show, has until the camera goes live. That is if they can even make it to air. 

Michaels, played by “The Fabelmans’” star Gabriel LaBelle, has an incredibly limited amount of time to turn his hectic, barely pieced-together concept of “Saturday Night” into a show not only enjoyable for viewers, but something that NBC studio execs like David Tebet (Willem DaFoe) will actually approve of.  

Needless to say, for the movie’s entire length, which is set in real-time (the film itself being a little over 90 minutes), chaos ensues. The lighting director has just quit. George Carlin (Matthew Rhys), the first ever host of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), is causing drama. Icon John Belushi (Matt Wood) refuses to put on a bee costume, because according to writer Rosie Schuster (played by “Bottoms” and “Shiva Baby” star, Rachel Sennott), “he thinks he’s Brando” and such things are beneath him. Michaels enlists acts for his first show, like Billy Crystal (Nicholas Podany), Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun) and his Muppets and Andy Kaufman (funnily enough, also played by Nicholas Braun) with his hilarious record player.  

The original cast of “SNL” is played by a cacophony of talented actors, featuring 2010’s heartthrob Dylan O’Brien as Dan Akroyd (fit with short denim shorts and a mustache to boot), Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase (the two look almost identical), Kim Matula as the ironically iconic Jane Curtain, Emily Fairn as costume-change aficionado Laraine Newman, Matt Wood as flaky and strung-out John Belushi, and of course my two personal favorites: Ella Hunt as the queen Roseanne Rosannadanna herself, Gilda Radner and recent first-time Emmy winner Lamorne Morris (“New Girl” and “Fargo”) as “SNL’s” first African–American cast member, Garrett Morris.  

Director Jason Reitman succeeded in making the original cast members not just feel like actors on a show, but conscious humans with concerns about their careers and reputations. For example, there is a formative scene between Curtain and Morris where Curtain launches into a fake TV commercial voice of a desperate, seemingly helpless woman who needs some random product to make her feel complete, and viewers can infer that Curtain herself wonders if she was only hired to be some form of despondent, surface-level woman that men in the audience will find funny. Morris, on the other hand, throughout the entire film, debates the question of why he is really at 30 Rock. Does it have anything to do with his Julliard-level talent, or everything to do with his skin color? He asks Curtain if he was just hired to play the “butler” or “pimp,” to which she replies that Morris is way too nice to “play a pimp.”

You’ll see some familiar faces hidden beneath the characters, like Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things” and “IT”) who plays an NBC Page, “Little Shop of Horrors” Broadway star Andrew Barth Feldman as Michaels’ anxious cousin, Neil Levy, Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) as Michaels’ boss Dick Ebersol, Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin (Chevy’s at-the-time fiancé and first wife) and J.K. Simmons as “Mr. Television,” Milton Berle. 

The camera never stops moving in this film. From Studio 8H, up to the writers on the 17th floor, back down to the control room and onto the soundstage, viewers are transported through the walls of the monumental building that holds Michaels’ creation, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Each twist and turn of the lens make it impossible for viewers to look away, for fear they may miss something crucial.

And since the movie is so fast-paced, viewers worry that Lorne himself may miss something too. It’s true – in the span of probably five minutes, Michaels must answer a call from Burbank in his office, find wherever Belushi ran off to, stop one of his crew members from getting beat up in an alley and shatter a glass door to break back into 30 Rock. The few moments the camera does linger, viewers are able to take in the arrangement and composition of the set design and perfect, 70’s-esque costumes of the actors.  

The soundtrack is also unique to the film. Musical artist Jon Batiste not only played the character of musical genius Billy Preston, but he also scored the entire soundtrack. The soundtrack was recorded live on the set to resemble the sounds and atmosphere of the iconic space.  

I think what made this movie so truly wonderful was that one hour and 49 minutes felt like a 12-minute short film. I knew it eventually had to end, but I dreaded it. I wanted to know more about the legends that walked the halls those days, wanting to know how the story ended. And that’s when I realized, it’s still going on. 

“SNL” is truly a being of its own. Its makeup is forever evolving, and Michaels still puts on a show at 11:30 pm each week. It’s been home to some of the comedy greats: Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Kevin Nealon, Kristin Wiig, Aidy Bryant, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong and Kenan Thompson, to name a few. And nothing captures the beast that is “SNL” as well as Reitman’s “Saturday Night.” Tune in to watch it this weekend, share a laugh with your friends, revel in the ridiculousness and don’t forget: Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night.