Vince Vaughn's Sci-fi Comedy On Hulu Is One 2026's Most Underrated Movies

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Depending on how you feel about the guy, the thought of two Vince Vaughns in one movie will either be a big selling point or a giant red flag. If you fall into the latter category, you should try to set your reservations aside because "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" is a grand old time, thanks in large part to Vaughn's dual-lead performance. The film was very well received at the 2026 South by Southwest Festival, but is in danger of being overlooked by wider audiences thanks to its quiet debut on Hulu. You can help fix that right now.

This R-rated action comedy follows a gangster who frames the man with whom his wife is having an affair. Oh, and there's also a time machine involved — hence the two Vince Vaughns. Yes, "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" might have a crime-thriller love triangle premise, but it's much goofier and more eccentric than that ... in a good way.

The film is written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski, who previously directed 2021's "Happily" and co-wrote "Scott Pilgrim Takes Off," and also reminded us that kids need horror stories, too, when he wrote 13 episodes of the 2019 "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" revival. "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" isn't horror, but like the beloved Nickelodeon series Grabinski helped revive, it has some fantastical elements. Interestingly enough, it's those very elements that make the film feel like a bit of a throwback to the era in which the original "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" aired — i.e., when both kids' shows and movies weren't afraid to be a little bit weird.

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The plot of "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" mostly makes sense when you see it play out, but it can be a little tough to follow in text. Basically, Vince Vaughn plays a gangster who knows his wife is cheating on him with James Marsden. Then, a future version of Vince arrives to stop his former self from having Marsden assassinated. There's humor, drama, some surprisingly impressive action sequences, and some great needle drops (see /Film's exclusive on why "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" opens with an unexpected song). That's the short version.

The longer version goes like this: Vaughn plays mobster and loan shark Nick, whose wife Alice (Eiza González) is having an affair with underling Quick Draw Mike (Marsden). Meanwhile, their boss, feared kingpin Sosa (Keith David), is delighted when his son, Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro), is released from prison. Now, the hunt is on for the rat who put him behind bars in the first place. Nick sees an opportunity and frames Mike as the rat, prompting Sosa to send a notorious hitman (who's also a cannibal) after him. But before anything can happen, a future version of Nick arrives to try to stop his former self from making the biggest mistake of his life. The film then follows the two Nicks, Mike, and Alice as they try to undo the mess they find themselves in, ultimately putting them on a collision course with Sosa.

"Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" premiered at the 2026 South by Southwest Festival before hitting Disney+ and Hulu in March of that year. But so far there's been very little fanfare for what is easily one of Vaughn's best modern films.

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Vince Vaughn has been on a modest tear of late. Aside from the well-received Apple TV series "Bad Monkey," Vaughn's comedy "Nonnas" dominated the Netflix charts in 2025. Now, he's front and center in "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice," which was also well-received by critics. 

The film has a 75% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, with Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com praising what he called "a truly great dual performance from Vaughn," and describing the movie as "his best film work in years." What's more, Tallerico seemed especially impressed by the action sequences in "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice," claiming that the film "features better stunts and fight choreography than several of the action and horror films that premiered at SXSW." Likewise, Monica Castillo of Little White Lies complimented the way in which the film allowed its stars to "shine beyond the trappings of the standard straight-to-streaming action fare."

Indeed, "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" uses its sci-fi and action elements to propel the central story rather than as window dressing. The genre mashup could easily have come across as a desperate attempt to be quirky and different for the sake of it. There's been an influx of movies that are essentially two films welded together in recent years, and not all of them work. In fact, a lot of them just sort of leave you wishing you'd been allowed to see how one half of the "cut and shut" story played out. But Vaughn's action comedy actually does each of its numerous genres well, especially the action part. As such, "Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice" is one of the best movies on Hulu right now.