‘Pretty Lethal’ Review: Ballet Isn’t Dead, It’s Killer Fun, Though

As much as you’d like to believe, Prime Video’s latest title, “Pretty Lethal,” is not some shade thrown at Timothée Chalamet for saying ballet is a dying art form. But Vicky Jewson’s action thriller does do a killer job of reminding you just how bada** the physicality of ballerina action can be, in a way that the “John Wick” spinoff “Ballerina,” with its stylised and serious action, couldn’t have.

Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Princess (Lana Condor), Grace (Avantika), Zoe (Iris Apatow) and Chloe (Millicent Simmonds) are American ballerinas who, along with their dance instructor, Miss Thorne (Lydia Leonard), are on their way to Budapest for an international ballet competition. The girls aren’t exactly simpatico and fall into the most basic tropes you could think of. Their names pretty much reflect that. Bones is the tough one; Princess is the spoiled, rich mean girl whose mother is paying for the trip; Grace is the devout Christian who is bound to have some unholy experiences on the trip (edibles). Zoe and Chloe are sisters, constantly bickering because Zoe is overprotective of her hearing-impaired sister.

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A series of mishaps en route brings them to Teremok Inn, a lonely hotel in the middle of nowhere, run by a former prima ballerina, Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman). The hotel is partly a place for goons and local thugs to blow off steam and partly a den of antiquities, paying homage to Devora’s unfulfilled love for ballet. And it is here that sh*t hits the fan and the ballerinas are taken captive, unlikely to make it out alive. So they must forget their differences, come together, and play to their strengths to escape. Let’s not forget, it’s not just their lives at stake; there’s also the ballet competition the next day.

If it weren’t for the comedic elements, "Pretty Lethal" could pass off for a John Wick-esque film, with its Eastern European setting and green-tinged colour palette. But closer to home, “Pretty Lethal” carries a hint of the team-building spirit of a “Chak De India”: A group of women banding together against men who think them fragile dolls. The film isn’t genre or trope-defying, nor does it carry any distinctive style. It’s predictable and, barring a few truly funny moments thanks to Avantika’s Grace and Condor’s Princess, the dialogue is strictly okay, even if a bit too on-the-nose with its humour. 

But what "Pretty Lethal" definitely is, is fun, unafraid of getting bloody and dirty and capitalises on the dance form itself. Ballerinas are strong and flexible, with great stamina and tolerance for pain. They can dance entire performances on bleeding feet. And as one particular fight scene in the basement proves, they carry many sharp objects in their luggage to alter their costumes that can be turned into weapons. 

"Pretty Lethal”’s action set pieces look like carefully choreographed repertoires. You might have to suspend belief in some instances when these girls are up against a horde of men, taking turns to come at them. But then again, male heroes get away with much worse. To watch these girls kick some serious a**, battered and bruised, and their swan-white costumes splattered with blood, is weirdly satisfying. What makes the suspension of belief easier is that you’d never once doubt that a real ballerina couldn’t pull that action off. They sure would be pretty lethal.

Maddie Ziegler’s Bones leads this showcase with her physical performance. It’s great to see Lana Condor step away from playing a rom-com darling and try out a mean girl, but the writing for her part lacks edge and fails her. Uma Thurman’s Devora (another hammy accent for her) gets a nice little finale act that could’ve been a bit more campy or flamboyant. The most bare-bones characters are Chloe and Zoe, who never go beyond the scanty outline on the page.

"Pretty Lethal”’s core standout remains just how much fun it has with ballet as not just a dance form, but a way of life. A great one for a girls’ night in and an FYI for the boys to never underestimate a girl en pointe.