Pretty Lethal (dir. Vicky Jewson)

by Jack Martin | Mar 25, 2026

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 88 mins

UK Distributor: Prime Video

UK Release Date: 25 March 2026

WHO’S IN PRETTY LETHAL?

Lana Condor, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow, Maddie Ziegler, Avantika, Uma Thurman, Michael Culkin, Lydia Leonard

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Vicky Jewson (director), Kate Freund (writer), William Bindley, Mike Karz, David Leitch, Annie Marter, Kelly McCormick and Piers Tempest (producers), Paul Leonard-Morgan (composer), Bridger Nielson (cinematographer), Richard Smither (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

A troupe of ballerinas must fight to survive their stay at a strange inn…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON PRETTY LETHAL?

Action choreography is a lot like ballet: it requires incredible stamina and dedication to perform, with the whole thing falling apart if one foot is out of step, but if executed just well enough it can be a beauty to behold. It’s little wonder why some of the most famous action sequences in cinema feel like their own kind of ballet recital, with numerous stunt performers fighting and leaping with all their might whilst contorting their bodies and taking extreme pain for the sake of entertainment, and that notion is taken very literally in director Vicky Jewson’s Pretty Lethal, in which our hard-boiled heroes are none other than actual ballerinas.

Like most ideas in Hollywood, a ballerina-centric action movie is far from original – hell, just last year, we had a John Wick spin-off that was literally called Ballerina; though ironically, this film incorporates ballet into its plot and action a lot more than that film did – but to the credit of Jewson and screenwriter Kate Freund, they aren’t looking to redefine the game here. Instead, they’re embracing the concept as much as they can to make a fun, if narratively underdeveloped, piece of action showmanship that is more entertaining than you’d probably think a ballerina action movie would be.

Our prima donnas are a troupe at an LA-based dance academy, consisting of street-smart Bones (Maddie Ziegler), pampered brat Princess (Lana Condor), religious zealot Grace (Avantika), and sisters Zoe (Iris Apatow) and Chloe (Millicent Simmonds). Although they can’t seem to stand each other, especially Bones and Princess, the dancers have to keep their composure as they travel to Budapest for a prestigious competition, where their bus breaks down enroute and they, along with their teacher Miss Thorna (Lydia Leonard), are forced to travel by foot in order to make it there on time. Soon, they wind up at a remote inn run by Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman), herself a former ballerina who now caters to local thugs and mobsters, but it is precisely when one of the latter makes a fatal decision that the troupe is left trapped inside the inn, left with no other choice but to use all the pirouettes and high kicks in their system as artillery against the armed and dangerous criminals.

Naturally, a movie with this kind of plot requires a heavy suspension of disbelief. For instance, could five stick-thin, pint-sized ballerinas realistically survive and defeat an onslaught of heavily built henchmen twice their height? Probably not, would be my guess. You could also apply this mindset to a lot of other logistical leaps within this movie, like the inconsistency with how big this inn in the middle of nowhere is supposed to be (enough for there to not only be a fully functioning kitchen but also a grand staircase, an entertainment lounge, an expanded basement, even what appears to be a bathhouse), right down to the flimsy motivations of certain villains. The point being, a movie like Pretty Lethal sometimes doesn’t have to make a lick of sense so long as you’re having a good enough time watching it, and thanks to Jewson’s kinetic directorial energy the film is made lively by how it just goes for the jugular with its unserious attitude, to where even the more serious moments carry a knowing tongue-in-cheek vibe.

This is especially true of the action itself, which incorporates as much ballet flexibility as possible to constantly remind the viewer of what kind of film they’re watching. Screenwriter Kate Freund, herself a former ballerina, is clearly having a lot of fun playing around with recontextualising certain ballet imagery and terminology into hardcore action moves and one-liners. There are high kicks aplenty, as are leaps and en pointe balancing acts that end in pain for many of the villains, while our heroes create makeshift weapons out of their ballet shoes and loose Stanley knife blades, all while iconic pieces from The Nutcracker play on the soundtrack as they unleash raw carnage. The director and writer, as well as the actors, all seem aware of how silly it is yet commit so heartily to making it so watchable that you’re happy to just watch the whole thing unfold in the way that it does.

Even still, it’s hard to overlook how thin the actual storytelling is. Much like They Will Kill You – even though this is, for my money, the stronger overall film, albeit not by much – the plot is mainly just an excuse for action set-pieces to happen, with characterisation and general logic being more of an afterthought. Each of our core heroes and villains have only one personality trait to their name (literally in some cases, because of course the religious girl’s name is Grace) and by golly they stick with it for the duration of the entire film, even if it is at the expense of further backstory that could have explained why some, such as Ziegler’s Bones, are already so capable in violent situations. There are also a couple of turns later on that will have you wondering why certain villains, particularly Thurman, remain so keen to silence these ballerinas even though they ultimately don’t fit into their ultimate plan which, without spoilers, may or may not make up the rather anticlimactic ending.

It may not completely stick the landing, wobbling upon re-entry after quite a magnificent leap, but Pretty Lethal is fun and knowingly silly entertainment that you can put on and enjoy without having to think too hard about it. And unlike Timothée Chalamet’s recent comments, it gives enough of a reason why ballet is still cared about by so many.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Pretty Lethal is a silly but enjoyable ballet-centric action movie that is aware enough of its own preposterousness to focus on delivering fun fight choreography over more necessary plot and character development.