SXSW: “Pretty Lethal,” an occasionally fun though mostly forgettable action thriller about ballet and bloody violence, is a film that’s almost entirely defined by missed opportunities.
It’s got a promising enough premise, a compelling cast who commit to the bit, and a refreshingly darker sense of humor that often proves surprisingly sinister. Unfortunately, all this potential is squandered in what is ultimately a scattered genre send-up that lacks enough kinetic action to leave any meaningful mark. Most tragically, the oddly murky visual palette and painfully clunky cinematography, both of which feel built to hide the action rather than showcase it, ensure it fails to capture the fluid beauty of the dance form it is meant to depict. It contains just enough moments where it leaps into the air and seems to be kicking things up a notch, only to come crashing down to make you realize how largely flatfooted it all remains. 
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This all begins with the use of the song “Rhythm Is A Dancer” from the German Eurodance group Snap!, which plays as we get introduced to the ballet troupe of Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Princess (Lana Condor), Grace (Avantika Vandanapu), Chloe (Millicent Simmonds), and Zoe (Iris Apatow). They’re a talented group, but they’re still prone to infighting, making their rehearsals run less smoothly. But when they head out on a trip to a dance competition, they’ll soon encounter other, much more serious problems when their bus breaks down. After going looking for help, they’ll find themselves trapped at a remote inn that’s overseen by a former ballet prodigy (Uma Thurman) and her various goons, who have some generic criminal activities going on they don’t want anybody knowing about. Thus, this ballet group is now suddenly a threat that they’ll have to take down. 
Of course, that proves easier said than done. As the film first becomes a game of cat and mouse through the motel before shifting into a bloody battle for their lives, it all feels more halting than exciting. Just as the ballerinas find themselves trapped in the motel, “Pretty Lethal” keeps dancing itself into corners, going from one predicament to the next without much that distinguishes them from each other. Some of this might be an attempt to show how these scenarios would play out more realistically, but in emphasizing gritty realism, there’s not enough actual graceful fun. Though the cast carries us through many of these weaker scenes, with the excellent duo of Ziegler and Condor both giving their all to what little they have to work with, you’re mostly just left waiting for the film to take full advantage of the idea of ballerinas fighting off a bunch of enemies. Unfortunately, the film never does so consistently as you’d hope. There is one sequence midway through that starts to get fun as we see the troupe coming together to take down these enemies as one unit. It’s more darkly playful and lively, giving you a glimpse of what a truly successful version of this film could’ve been. Even as there is one moment where you can noticeably tell that one of the cast’s faces has been superimposed over top of their stunt double, at least we’re getting some changes to see the talented stunt performers move through an action scene rather than have their work cut to pieces. It’s a standout moment in the film, but it’s not enough to save the rest of the experience from stumbling and falling repeatedly flat on its face.
Support independent movie journalism to keep it alive. Sign up for The Playlist Newsletter. All the content you want and, oh, right, it’s free.If there were one moment that summed up the experience of “Pretty Lethal,” it would be when Ziegler gets a darkly comedic monologue while being tortured, in which she says this is nothing compared to the pain of ballet. Only, instead of building up to something fun from this, say, where she gets to turn the tables, then she just gets slapped in the face and knocked out. Perhaps this is meant to be intentionally disappointing, but it mostly just feels like a slap in the face to the audience as much as it does the character. Just when a performer gets to embrace the heart of the premise and sink her teeth into a scene, it gets cut short right as it seems to be getting started. More moments like this that built off the realities of ballet beyond so-so jokes here and there could’ve made “Pretty Lethal” something special. Instead, the film never hit its mark.
All you’re left with is a late “twist” surrounding the utterly wasted Thurman, who mostly seemed to float in and out of scenes in the background of the story as a more complex antagonist who the film doesn’t know what to do with, a forced redeployment of the song “Rhythm Is A Dancer,” and one final performance. Rather than feel rewarding, it all feels unearned and empty, despite the cast’s best efforts to give it one final jolt of energy. In the end, “Rhythm Is A Dancer” remains a classic banger, but “Pretty Lethal” never finds any remotely memorable rhythms of its own. [C-]“Pretty Lethal” is now available to stream on Prime Video.