“Pretty Lethal” was released on Prime Video on March 25, 2026. It premiered on March 13, 2026, at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas.
In my opinion, this movie was a refreshing change from other action movies. The plot follows five ballerinas who dislike each other as they travel to a world dance competition in Hungary. The five ballerinas are played by Maddie Zigler, Avantika Vandanapu, Millicent Simmonds, Lana Condor, and Iris Apatow. Their teacher is played by Lydia Leonard and the villain is played by Uma Thurman.
What I thought was unique about the plot is that the ballerinas get trapped in a hotel run by a Mafia boss and have to fight their way out after their teacher is killed by another character. I expected the movie to show the ballerinas as fragile or more timid, but from the start, that was not the case at all. From the moment they are trapped, Zigler’s character takes charge and starts to form a plan. They decide that they are all going to fight their way out together to survive and escape. Condor’s character was portrayed at the beginning as very selfish, which was interesting because it was so different from her previous role as Lara Jean in “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.”
I thought it was really cool to see the incorporation of ballet technique into the fighting scenes of the movie. During many of the fight scenes, the ballerinas were constantly using their dance skills to fight off their attackers. Even during the climax of the movie, when they are fighting, they begin to perform their routine as they fight off the attackers. I think it was especially nice to see Zigler be the main star in this movie and use her many years of ballet experience from the TV show “Dance Moms.” It felt nice to see her in a new light that wasn’t focused mainly on reality TV or drama.
Simmonds is a deaf actress and it was good to see inclusiveness in the movie, especially since it’s an action movie. She has previously starred in horror movies, such as “A Quiet Place” and its sequel as well. It was really interesting to see her character arc through the movie as she goes from being naive to taking charge and saving her sister.
In all, I would rate this movie a 5/5 for its unique plot and addition of ballet in action in a new, creative light.
