Operation Avalanche (2016) poster

2016 · thriller · mystery · comedy

Operation Avalanche

Directed by Matt Johnson1h 34m2016

In 1967, four undercover CIA agents were sent to NASA posing as a documentary film crew. What they discovered led to one of the biggest conspiracies in American history.

Our read: Operation Avalanche (2016) reads as a sombre, kinetic, inventive thriller · mystery · comedy entry — measured in intensity, mid-stakes in scope, cold in temperature, ambivalent in outlook.

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Cast

Matt Johnson Owen Williams Jared Raab Josh Boles Krista Madison

Movie DNA

Sombre, kinetic, measured thriller / mystery, inventive in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, cold.

ElsewhereIMDb6.19kRT69%Metacritic69

sombre
brisk
inventive

Game · before you press play

Watching Operation Avalanche tonight? Spin for your lens.

Everyone on the couch spins once and gets one craft to watch for. After the credits, compare what you caught.

Your lens for tonight

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Everyone on the couch gets one craft to watch for. Spin the wheel to get yours. Sound on: the narrator reads your mission.

Where to watch

Not on streaming here right now.Check JustWatch Check Letterboxd

More info & search links

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Where the cast leads

The Dirties (2013) poster

Matt Johnson · Owen Williams · Krista Madison

BlackBerry (2023) (2023) poster

BlackBerry (2023)

Matt Johnson actor/director thread

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2026) poster

Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie

Matt Johnson actor/director thread

actor path

The Dirtiessame tone BlackBerry (2023)near DNA Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movienew register

actor path

The Dirtiessame tone

DNA · twelve axes

How Operation Avalanche feels to watch.

Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.

MoodHeavy ↔ Cosy

PacingSlow-burn ↔ Kinetic

IntensityGentle ↔ Extreme

WeirdnessConventional ↔ Surreal

HopeNihilistic ↔ Redemptive

StakesIntimate ↔ Epic

HumourNone ↔ Broad

RealityGrounded ↔ Fantastical

DensitySparse ↔ Twisty

WarmthCold ↔ Tender

AuteurTransparent ↔ Signature

Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

“You want a sly mockumentary that plays moon-landing conspiracy like a heist gone wrong.”

ends unsettlingit stays with youa slow buildgrips by minute 22attention 4/5earns its length

Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around

Heads-upsuicide theme

Skip it tonight — Skip if lo-fi conspiracy banter needs more payoff than clever premise tonight.

If Operation Avalanche is your film

Moonwalkers (2015)

sixties moon-hoax absurdism with stoner-heist energy

(if broad comedy undercuts the paranoia)

Computer Chess (2013)

retro mockumentary vibe and deadpan institutional weirdness

(unless black-and-white minimalism bores you)

The Dirties (2013)

found-footage infiltration where filmmaking turns dangerously real

(if school-shooter subtext feels too raw)

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