What if a flock of ballerinas were stranded in a dive bar, where they must fight a vicious mob boss to get out alive? That’s the premise of Pretty Lethal, the new action comedy starring Lana Condor (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before), Millicent Simmonds (A Quiet Place), Avantika (Mean Girls2024), Iris Apatow (The Bubble), and Maddie Ziegler, who was the center of such iconic Sia music videos as “Chandelier” and “Elastic Heart.”
The plotline seems like something out of a ’70s exploitation film, where ultra-femininity collides with gruesome, graphic violence. However, the cast feels more in line for a reboot of Sugar & Spice or Bring It On, teen comedies that relied on charming ingenues and high-energy antics. Like exploitation movies that capitalized on emerging media trends, Pretty Lethal seems to walk in the footsteps of recent ballerina-does-violence movies, like the 2024 horror-comedy Abigail, about a pint-sized vampire girl who paired her fangs with a tutu, and 2025’s Ballerina, a John Wick spinoff starring Ana de Armas. So, audiences might well expect the kind of sleek style and jaw-dropping violence of these sorts.
Unfortunately, Pretty Lethal pales in comparison to all of these potential inspiration points. It’s just not outrageous or surprising enough to rise above feeling like an imitator.
Pretty Lethal feels pretty basic.
Uma Thurman plays a bar owner with a ballet past in “Pretty Lethal.” Credit: Prime Video
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