Razor blades and pointe footwear show fairly deadly in Vicky Jewson’s bloody and blistered ballet thriller, which finds a dysfunctional ballerina troupe combating for survival after a run-in with a lethal Hungarian mob. Streaming on Prime Video later this month, “Fairly Deadly” couldn’t have come at a greater time, given all of the drama and discourse surrounding Timothée Chalamet’s controversial remarks on the cultural worth of ballet and opera relative to mainstream artwork types, which earned pointed responses from each worlds.
Whereas the moviewritten by former ballerina Kate Freund, is much from a critique on the fabric decline of the dwell arts, it clearly gestures in direction of a shrewd commentary Chalamet and his explicit model of sleaze would possibly simply dismiss: the physique, and subsequently ballet, as a vessel of cinematic storytelling — a visceral bodily language turning into an audiovisual one. For hardcore followers of the style and ballet alike, it’s mainly a treasure trove, no matter whether or not it can’t reference different ballets previous “The Nutcracker,” no matter whether or not all of the hijinks miss a beat or cease wanting depth.
The 5 Los Angeles-based prima ballerinas — performed by Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Avantika, Millicent Simmonds, and Iris Apatow — have been getting ready all their lives to debut on the Nationwide Theatre in Budapest, which might change the course of their careers. Particularly for many who aren’t as fortunate to have a head begin in life, just like the left-out Bones (Ziegler), who wouldn’t be capable of compete with out the sponsorship of the mom of spoiled brat and bully Princess (Condor). “Ballet is a wealthy bitch sport,” as Bones places it, maybe the identical level the “Marty Supreme” star is attempting to make, albeit conceitedly.
After touchdown in Hungary, a day earlier than the grand showcase, the group’s bus breaks down in the midst of nowhere. Fretting over the dance of their lives, they must metal themselves for one thing far worse. Opting to maintain out of the forest, they take shelter in a dingy roadside inn run by Uma Thurman’s Devora Kasimer, a fallen ballet prodigy, and her henchmen. It doesn’t take lengthy for the hazard to make itself identified, with the younger ladies’s mentor (Lydia Leonard) as the primary casualty. Because the ballerinas hatch a plan to come back out of their predicament alive, our bodies start to drop useless.
“Fairly Deadly” is essentially a motion film, that includes a C+C Music Manufacturing unit needle drop early on — one that’s deeply attuned to swapping males for ladies within the realm of motion cinema. At instances, the movie is tolerably grotesque physique horror or an acid journey film crammed with Bible verse reciting, as Avantika performs the ethical, spiritual North Star; at others, it’s an outright revenge story, significantly because the sparse plot pivots to Devora, who’s out to settle an outdated rating with Michael Culkin’s Lothar Marcovic, a merciless crime lord. A vindictive pursuit that ends moderately predictably, as we scan the routine, however are by no means allowed to behold the dance in its full glory.
The “Kill Invoice” star is thrilling to observe, however not compelling sufficient to make up for the shortcomings of the uninspired script, which shows an annoying knack for stating the plain by way of clichéd dialogue, that certainly the ballerinas must band collectively to outlive, paired with fairly torpid pacing. Ziegler, in the meantime, is already unbelievable as the one character with survival intuition, at the very least initially, at which level I assumed it could tip “Fairly Deadly” right into a closing lady film. It’s laborious to ask extra of Ziegler, given she actually doesn’t have a lot to work with.
The camerawork is enough, however by no means lifts the film to a better aesthetic delight. Shut-ups on framed images depicting Devora’s youthful, extra swish self provide much less a way of historical past than ambient suspense. If something, backstories listed below are neatly left to the creativeness. Likewise, the dreary inn, via Zsuzsa Kismarty-Lechner and Charlotte Pearson’s manufacturing design, is emblematic of Devora’s pale dream — an area the place “The Nutcracker” by some means by no means ends. The centerpiece is, in fact, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all. Choreographed to beautiful and outrageous impact, this would possibly simply be probably the most death-dealing costume rehearsal you’ll ever come throughout. That the goons didn’t simply immediately shoot on the ballerinas additionally makes it all of the extra foolish.
Regardless of the contrivance, Jewson makes fascinating theater out of this, flipping the archetypal picture of the ballerina, and subsequently femininity, on its head and rendering it as a sort of weapon, solid by years of placing up with monumental ache, towards a world beset by patriarchal violence. The quintet spins, stretches, and slits throats, combining grace and self-discipline in what one would possibly name “ballet-fu,” maybe a brand new style to spend money on. They cram their our bodies into kitchen cupboards, as does a doll in a window field. They transfer as a single, cohesive unit. But, whereas most of that appears top-tier leisure, the place the actors are clearly having all of the enjoyable working collectively, testing out new stunts, all of the bone-breaking can solely hold you on the sting of your seat for therefore lengthy.
Framing ballet as a supply of high-octane motion is extremely ingenious, however “Fairly Deadly” stays a regular suspense thriller, a piece that’s finally kneecapped by a writing that renders the deeper textures of the characters largely gestural, solely meant to drive the proceedings onward with sheer pressure. The extra it generates spectacle, the extra you discover how the screenplay fails to maintain in step. Glimpses into previous lives, together with that of Bones, are hardly given any consideration previous suggestive pathos or plainly stating them up prime that earlier than the ultimate dance graces us to hammer house the movie’s feminist message, “Fairly Deadly” has already, completely, worn us down. No plié to soak up all of the shock. On this approach, Jewson’s imaginative and prescient is kind of deadly.
Grade: B-
“Fairly Deadly” premiered on the 2026 SXSW Movie and TV Pageant. It streams on Prime Video globally on March 25.
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