There’s a boyband, a time slip, and a 1995 deadline. Back to the 90s takes that setup and runs it for 92 minutes, which is either a tight little pop machine or a premise stretched past its hook. Facundo Scalerandi directs from a script by Marian Grönwoldt and Juliana Lima Dehne, and the film knows exactly what it is: a romance-comedy with a music engine, built for the five friends at its center.
Five Friends, One Glitch
The band is Ben (Jacob Rott), Chris (Luis Freitag), Oliver (Bene Schulz), Matteo (Julien Brown) and Jonas (Tim Schäcker). They’re rising, not arrived. The glitch drops them into 1995 just days before the biggest showcase of their lives, and the race to reverse the time slip is the plot’s spine.
That’s a clean clock. A showcase date gives the movie stakes without a villain, and the time slip gives it a reason to test whether these five actually belong together. The synopsis promises as much: unexpected connections form, the past pulls them in deeper, and getting home means confronting what they’re willing to leave behind — and who they truly are to each other.
The Cast Around the Band
The supporting bench is where a film like this lives or dies. Anja Pichler plays Mary Jane, Luise Aschenbrenner is Jamie, Sidney Fahlisch is Olivia. Liam Noori appears as Young Arno, Luis Moll as Charlie Crawford, Rafael Stachowiak as Spooky Janitor, and Felicitas Woll as Ms. Robinson.
| Element | Back to the 90s |
|---|---|
| Director | Facundo Scalerandi |
| Writers | Marian Grönwoldt, Juliana Lima Dehne |
| Genres | Romance, Comedy, Music |
| Lead cast | Jacob Rott, Luis Freitag, Bene Schulz, Julien Brown, Tim Schäcker |
| Setting | 1995 |
The Numbers Behind Back to the 90s
- Runtime: 92 minutes
- Release year: 2026
- Genres: Romance, Comedy, Music
- Director: Facundo Scalerandi
- Writers: Marian Grönwoldt, Juliana Lima Dehne
- Five band members: Ben, Chris, Oliver, Matteo, Jonas
What the Premise Can Carry
The risk is obvious. A time-slip comedy with a boyband has to sell two things at once: the joke of five modern kids in 1995, and the sincerity of a group learning what they mean to each other. The synopsis leans hard on the second. “Who they truly are to each other” is the load-bearing line, and if the film treats that as a real question rather than a slogan, the 92 minutes will earn their runtime.
What matters most is the showcase. It’s the reason to get home, which means the movie has to make the audience want them home too. If the 1995 detour is just a costume party, the ending lands soft. If the connections they form there cost them something, the ending lands.
The cast is large for 92 minutes — nine named roles beyond the band. That’s a lot of people to serve, and the smartest version of this film keeps Ms. Robinson, Charlie Crawford and the Spooky Janitor as texture, not subplots.
Back to the 90s isn’t chasing novelty. It’s chasing a feeling, and the feeling is the whole bet. Romance, comedy and music in one package is a crowded lane, and the film’s only real edge is whether the five friends read as a band worth rooting for.
The premise is thin. The promise isn’t.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.
