A film about ballerinas fighting for their lives in a roadside inn sounds like the sort of idea that should either completely collapse under its own silliness or become something gloriously entertaining. Pretty Lethal does a bit of both. It is bloody, campy, and occasionally cringey, but when it leans fully into the madness of its premise, it can be an entertaining watch.
Directed by Vicky Jewson, the film follows five young dancers on their way to a prestigious ballet competition in Hungary. Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Princess (Lana Condor), Grace (Avantika), Chloe (Millicent Simmonds) and Zoe (Iris Apatow) are already barely tolerating each other by the time their bus breaks down in the middle of a remote forest. With nowhere else to go, they end up seeking shelter at an unsettling roadside inn run by Devora Kasimer, a former ballet prodigy played by Uma Thurman. From there, things go wrong very quickly.
What makes Pretty Lethal work, when it does work, is that it doesn’t try to pretend this is just another action thriller with ballet shoes thrown in for novelty. The film commits to the bit. These girls do not suddenly become action heroes out of nowhere. The choreography is built around the physical discipline of ballet itself, with kicks, turns, balance and sheer pain tolerance all folded into the fights. It gives the film a strange little identity of its own. The choreography blends classical ballet with combat in a way that almost feels like “ballet-fu.” The action is easily the best thing here. Something is compelling about watching years of brutal dance training turned into a survival tool, and the film gets a lot of mileage out of that contrast between elegance and violence. Pointe shoes become weapons, spins become attacks, and every movement is treated like it hurts. That part of the film really lands.
Ziegler is also a big reason the whole thing stays upright. As Bones, she gives the film a centre of gravity it probably needed. She is scrappy, believable and by far the most natural fit for the material, partly because her dance background gives the action a kind of sharpness the others cannot always match. Her performance helps anchor the film when the story becomes a little uneven, and she carries much of the emotional weight throughout.
The rest of the troupe is given enough shape to stop the group from blurring into one. Condor’s Princess has the polished edge of someone who looks like she should have this world figured out. Avantika gives Grace a sincerity that works well against the chaos, Simmonds brings warmth and steadiness to Chloe, and Apatow’s Zoe has a volatility that fits the group dynamic. The film is interested in rivalry, but more than that, it is interested in teamwork. These girls start fractured, petty and competitive, and it’s more entertaining because of it. Thurman, meanwhile, knows exactly what sort of film she is in. Devora is theatrical, tragic and a little unhinged, and Thurman clearly understands the tone the film is aiming for. She gives the film the right amount of grand villain energy without turning it into parody.
That said, Pretty Lethal definitely has its rougher patches. Some of the dialogue is clunky, and there are moments where the tone tips too far into cringe rather than camp. Not every joke lands, not every emotional beat does either. However, there is a stronger version of this film somewhere in here, one that pushes the absurdity even further and smooths out the weaker writing. Still, it is hard not to enjoy a lot of what it’s doing. The director, Vicky Jewson, clearly understands that the appeal lies in the contrast: femininity as strength, ballet as armour, teamwork as survival. It is all a little exaggerated, yes, but that is part of the fun. The film is at its best when it stops worrying about plausibility and just lets these dancers kick their way through the nightmare.
Pretty Lethal is not some revelatory action masterpiece, but it doesn’t need to be. It is a solid, entertaining genre film with inventive choreography, a cast that fully commits to the chaos, and one very strong lead performance from Maddie Ziegler. Messy in places, but it works best when it leans into its strangest ideas.
★★★
On Prime Video on March 25th / Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow, Avantika, Uma Thurman / Dir: Vicky Jewson / Prime Video / 15
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