If you find yourself with nothing to do on a Friday evening because you finished all your homework — not even just for this weekend, but for the next four — already hit the gym, deep cleaned your whole apartment, went to the grocery store and did your laundry, I still wouldn’t encourage you to watch “Pretty Lethal.”
But if you do, you can’t say I didn’t warn you.
Vicky Jewson’s “Pretty Lethal” follows five ballerinas, Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Princess (Lana Condor), Grace (Avantika Vandanapu), Chloe (Millicent Simmonds) and Zoe (Iris Apatow), who travel to Budapest, Hungary to compete in a dance showcase. After a series of mishaps, their bus breaks down in front of a remote Hungarian mansion, the Teremok Inn, where they seek shelter. Early on, it is clear that not everything is as it seems. After witnessing an “unfortunate accident,” the girls find themselves trapped and are forced to fight their way out.
The premise, to its credit, is interesting. An action thriller following young ballerinas is a distinct concept. The fight scenes, which incorporated ballet-like moves, were well done and probably the only moments in the film that really kept my attention.
Arguably, that is the film’s main issue: there is really nothing that keeps you engaged.
None of the five leads was given much more than a singular character trait to embody. Bones is rough around the edges, an outsider in the rich and composed world of ballet. Princess falls into the spoiled Princess trope — the two girls are (naturally) at odds with each other. Grace is a devout Christian. Chloe is boy-crazy, and Zoe is her protective older sister. By the end of the film, none of them have meaningfully grown. The only significant change is that they’re all now trauma-bonded and, consequently, don’t bicker as much.
In defense of the actresses, it did seem to be more of a writing issue than the acting itself. Ziegler and Simmonds truly stood out with the little that they were given, managing to make their characters real despite the flatness inherent in the script. Other than that, everyone was relatively forgettable. No character really added anything to the film, including Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman), our supposed lead antagonist, who was left completely underdeveloped. The film probably would have made just as much sense without her.
Every time Princess opened her mouth, I had to refrain from cringing. It seems as though her character was written for a different movie and thrown into the script at the last minute, because her lines, which would’ve been hilarious elsewhere, completely missed the mark. I couldn’t tell if it was a poor attempt at making the film satirical or if they thought it would add to the comedy.
Visually, there was potential in the film. The colors were muted in a way that made it feel eerie and gave it a more haunted feel than just your standard action film. The fight scenes and cinematography were well done, and you really felt immersed in the action. However, the flat writing, which extended beyond the characters to the plot build-up itself, made it so that there was never really any dread or tension. Consequently, the setting, which could have been terrifying, ultimately came across as a nice house.
My main takeaway from the film was that “Pretty Lethal” was made for the wrong genre. This should have been a camp movie, leaning into elements of horror comedy like “Scream Queens.” It should have acknowledged its absurdity and allowed itself to be made fun of. But, it took itself too seriously, and, in turn, there was nothing there to keep you engaged. You could look away at any point and not care to look back. It was also too predictable to be thrilling. Not once was I caught off guard by an attack or any event in the film. My mind wasn’t twisted either. Without the blood, this would easily have been rated PG-13, and no one would have batted an eye. Honestly, it probably would have done better if it had been.
