Tour de Pharmacy (2017)

Tour de Pharmacy is a sharp, absurdist mockumentary that skewers the era and excesses of professional cycling by imagining a scandal-plagued 1982 race in which practically every contender is on something. Framed as a retrospective documentary, it stitches together faux archival footage, talking-head interviews, and re-created race sequences to chronicle how performance-enhancing drugs became embedded in the sport and in the careers of a colorful — and highly irresponsible — field of competitors. Watching it, you’ll get a rapid-fire blend of broad physical comedy and deadpan satire: over-the-top racing set pieces, ridiculous doping contraptions and schemes, and interview segments that mix shameless boasting with hindsight remorse. The film leans into period detail and sports-broadcast tropes, parodying commentators, team dynamics, and the media circus around athletic scandals. It’s less interested in a serious moral treatise than in piling on escalating absurdities to expose how normalized cheating can feel when everyone plays along. As a viewer, expect to laugh at cringe-worthy antics, spot satirical jabs at celebrity culture and sports officiating, and encounter surprise celebrity cameos and heightened caricatures rather than realistic drama. The tone alternates between zany slapstick and wry mock-serious analysis, so you’ll come away entertained and amused — and maybe a little bit provoked to think about how sports narratives get constructed and forgiven.

Actors: Andy Samberg, Orlando Bloom, Freddie Highmore

Director: Jake Szymanski

Runtime: 41 min

Genres: Comedy, Sport

7.1 /10 7.1 /10