“The Prom” Review: An Excellent Broadway Adaptation with Catchy Songs and Oscar Worthy Performances

The Prom is a Netflix original film directed by Ryan Murphy and is based on the broadway production of the same name. The film follows a group of hilariously self-obsessed theater stars who swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom. The films stars an ensemble cast consisting of Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells, Keegan-Michael Key, Ariana DeBose, Kerry Washington, and newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman.

What I really liked about this film is that it is very entertaining, which I didn’t expect, but it was welcome regardless. The film was incredibly funny, and I found myself laughing out loud several times throughout. Another great thing about this film is the spot-on pacing. Despite being a 131 minutes movie, it never dragged and I was constantly invested in the story. While it may have slowed down a bit in the middle, the film picked itself back up incredibly quickly.

The musical numbers are also quite good here. Admittedly, I am not the biggest fan of musicals. However, the music in this film didn't feel forced, and it was actually very catchy and had some awesome choreography to back them up. I attribute all of these strongpoints to the screenplay, which is able to perfectly balance humor, emotion, and music into one movie, which I really liked.

However, what really elevates everything I loved about this film is the cast. Every single cast member in this film does an excellent job with their roles and none of their performances felt phoned-in or overacted. Streep and Corden are fantastic performers, and they for sure bring real career highlight performance. The supporting cast is also excellent. Despite not given a whole lot to do, Nicole Kidman and Andrew Rannells do stellar work in their roles and breath a ton of life and heart into their musical numbers. The real star in my opion however, is newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman. While I feel that she should've been in more of the movie, she does an amazing job with what she was given and steals every scene she's in!

This film is just fantastic! It's entertaining, well paced, well written, beautifully shot, has catchy and well choreographed musical numbers, and features oscar-worthy performances from everyone in the cast. I definetly recommend watching this film as soon as possible when it hit Netflix on December 11th, one of the best films of 2020!

Final Grade: A+

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