Saturday Night is an electric recreation of the hours before the first show and airing of NBC's Saturday Night, later known as Saturday Night Live (SNL). Gabriel LaBelle (The Fablemans) leads as Lorne Michaels, SNL’s creator in his frantic, exasperated journey through that fateful evening.

Directed and co-written by Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Afterlife), Saturday Night is thoroughly engaging thanks to its non-stop pace and excellent portrayals of the classic names from early SNL like Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O'Brien), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and John Beluishi (Matt Wood) amongst many others. Willem Dafoe gives an excellent yet deliciously menacing turn as David Tebet, the network executive with the power of life and death over the show in the countdown to first airtime.

The film visits some of the classic skits from the early SNL period, though it is more interested in the characters involved in the production and their conflicts than functioning as an homage to the golden era of the long-running show. This is a benefit in that it avoids bloating an otherwise taut and frantic film, but also feels like somewhat of a missed opportunity to give a new life to old classics for a new audience.

The film is packed with such detail in its recreation of the time it’s likely much could be missed by an audience member unfamiliar with the entire story of the show’s early history - however, the engaging direction and excellent performances of the widely talented cast are entirely enough to bring along everyone through this story of survival against the odds.

Saturday Night is a frantic, electric retelling of the lead up to the first airing and production of Saturday Night Live and every element of chaos that sought to derail the show’s entry into television history.