The South Park movies have been a meaningful expansion of the famous franchise created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The universe began with two animated short films, The Spirit of Christmas, released in 1992 and 1995. Their popularity inspired the South Park series which premiered in August 1997 and quickly became a pop-culture phenomenon for its unrestrained profanity and drak brand of comedy.
Apart from the series now on Season 26, the franchise has evolved into a multimedia property encompassing video games, short films, sketches, and soundtrack albums. In August 2021, Parker and Stone inked an expansion deal with MTV Entertainment Studios to extend the South Park run on Comedy Central to Season 30. The deal also includes producing 14 South Park movies for Paramount+ otherwise known as “exclusive events” in the South Park universe. Here’s a ranking of all the South Park movies released thus far, from the best to the least acclaimed.
1. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
The first South Park movie and only feature-length film on the list, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut follows Stan Marsh and his friends as they circumvent restrictions to watch an R-rated movie that leaves them swearing and cursing. Their parents blame Canada for it, leading to tension between the United States and the neighboring nation. When the US eventually declares war on Canada, the boys scramble to stop the execution of the film’s stars in order to prevent Satan from invading and conquering Earth.
Bigger, Longer & Uncut was a critical and commercial success. Against its production cost of $21 million, it raked in over $83 million at the box office to become one of the highest-grossing R-rated animated films ever made. The movie has a 7.7/10 IMDb rating and an 88% audience approval rating on Rotton Tomatoes.
2. South Park: Joining the Panderverse (2023)
Joining the Panderverse stars an adult, black female Cartman in a story that teases Disney’s pandering to inclusivity and wokeness. After finding himself in an alternate universe where all the South Park residents are women of diverse racial identities, Eric Cartman meets Kathleen Kennedy. He learns she’s the reason for the decline in Disney movies’ quality, and at the same time, Kennedy realizes Cartman is behind the hate campaign against Disney. They reconcile and soon find themselves back in their universe. Released to positive reviews, Joining the Panderverse has a 96% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, complemented by its 7.8/10 IMDb rating. The film was nominated for Astra’s Best Animated Series or TV Movie in 2024.
3. Imaginationland: The Movie (2008)
Released as a direct-to-video compilation film in March 2008, Imaginationland comprises three South Park Season 11 episodes. The three-part story arc begins with a bet involving leprechauns and a sexual act between Cartman and Kyle. While leprechauns are real and Cartman wins, the boys soon find themselves in Imaginationland, contending against dark imaginary creatures endangering the future of humanity. Amid that, Cartman would stop at nothing to make Kyle honor their bet and s**k his ba**s. Imaginationland: The Movie has a 79% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.4/10 IMDb rating.
4. South Park: Post COVID (2021)
Released to enthusiastic reception in November 2021, South Park: Post COVID was nominated for Online Film & Television Association’s Best Motion Picture alongside HCA’s Best Streaming Variety Sketch Series, Talk Series, or Special. The film captures the CoronaVirus hysteria four decades after the pandemic with a storyline that revolves around Kenny’s death and how the boys’ lives changed over the years. Eric Cartman is now a rabbi with a family, Stan Marsh lives in Colorado, while Kyle Broflovski works as a guidance counselor at the elementary school they all attended. South Park: Post COVID has a 7.5/10 IMDb rating and a 73% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
5. South Park (Not Suitable for Children) (2023)
Not Suitable for Children satirizes vices revolving around social media influencers and their impact on children. Focusing on OnlyFans and Cred — a drink reminiscent of Prime, the South Park film pursues parallel storylines. The primary story centers on the elementary school kids’ obsession with Cred, having been barraged with unsolicited recommendations. Meanwhile, Randy Marsh becomes an OnlyFans model after learning how lucrative it has been for a teacher. He struggles to gain traction and it’s only a matter of time before he starts creating adult content featuring Cred to lure in viewers. South Park (Not Suitable for Children) has an 86% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.3/10 IMDb rating.
6. South Park: The End of Obesity (2024)
The End of Obesity reflects on America’s weight problem. It satirizes issues with the bureaucracy attached to the country’s health care industry alongside the body positivity social movement. The South Park film revolves around Eric Cartman’s quest to get a weight-loss drug so that he can disparage people without being ridiculed for his weight.
When his doctor prescribes Lizzo’s music instead of the medicine, Cartman and his friends explore various options to beat the American healthcare system. They eventually settled for a campaign against fat shaming which gained traction, allowing Cartman to insult people without attracting hurtful comments about his weight. South Park: The End of Obesity has an 82% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, corresponding with its 7.1/10 IMDb rating.
7. South Park: Post COVID: The Return of COVID (2021)
A sequel to Post COVID, The Return of COVID also has a 7.5/10 IMDb rating but managed only 68% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The plot revolves around Stan and Kyle’s efforts to prevent the COVID pandemic with Kenny’s time-traveling machine. While Cartman partnered with Butters to resist them, the friends eventually salvaged their relationship, opting to influence the future through a positive reaction to the outbreak. This positively revised their future and that of South Park, except for Cartman who went from being a married rabbi with kids to a homeless, irritable, alcoholic.
8. South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2 (2022)
The Streaming War Part 2 concludes The Streaming Wars story, helping viewers make sense of the first part and its cliffhanger ending. At the peak of the struggle to maximize profit from water streaming, South Park grapples with a severe drought while Pi Pi schemes to have everyone stream his urine. Randy ultimately saves the day, using Cartman’s and other women’s breast implants to power the desalination plant he built for the town. Given that the film elevated understanding of its first part, it’s quite natural the audience responded more positively to it. South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2 has a 6.6/10 IMDb rating and a 79% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
9. South Park: The Streaming Wars (2022)
The Streaming Wars‘ complex story explores several elements related to global warming and the profiteering strife among big corporations. Using water streams as a metaphor for streaming services, the South Park movie pokes fun at the ongoing streaming war between Paramount and Warner Bros Discovery over South Park’s catalog. While the conflict for profit and control threatens the town, Eric Cartman would stop at nothing to make his mother get breast implants, including getting them himself. South Park: The Streaming War has a 6.7/10 IMDb rating and a 58% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Follow Us
