‘Pretty Lethal’ Review: Vicky Jewson’s Bloody, Ballistic Ballet is Never Quite On Pointe [C] SXSW
Director Vicky Jewson prefaced the world premiere of her new film Pretty Lethal by describing that she was first drawn to the film via its theme of sisterhood and women lifting up other women. Given the straightforward premise, and the fun late title card, you can see why a dysfunctional troupe of ballerinas fighting their way out of a shabby version of John Wick’s Continental Hotel can be a rowdy good time.
This troupe consists of our tough fighter protagonist Bones (Maddie Ziegler), her spoiled rival and duet partner Princess (Lana Condor), the ditzy and innocent Grace (Avantika), the deaf and independent Chloe (Millicent Simmonds), and her protective sister and interpreter Zoe (Iris Apatow). It’s clear from the get-go that not everybody gets along – a problem when you’re supposed to be dancing together in unison. It seems like the one thing that forces them to have to work together is to have the stakes completely elevate into action thriller territory. As they get lost in their travels, the troupe stay in a sketchy-as-hell Hungarian inn, full of scumbag gangsters pulled from every action movie you’ve ever seen.
And that brings me to two main problems with the film. The first is Pretty Lethal is pretty dull on a narrative level. The simple premise isn’t the issue (it’s usually an action movie’s strength), but it’s the script’s inability to set up a clear set of problems to solve, as the girls try to escape and make their way out of the inn. Instead, too much time is devoted to the villains who run the place, from gang leader Pasha (Tamás Szabó Sipos) to inn owner and former dancer Devora (Uma Thurman). A significant subplot is introduced midway through the film, involving Devora’s backstory and her tricky relationship with Pasha and his notoriously powerful father, and it’s frankly all gobbledygook that I struggled to care about.
The second issue lies in the tone, where Pretty Lethal wants to be two different movies at once. One wants to be a fun and empowering story of young women who use their wits and their resilience as dancers to get out of their predicament, all while delivering stylish action reminiscent of Kingsman. The other wants to be a dark, grimy, nasty crime thriller reminiscent of films like Taken. When the script chooses to mesh all of it together, it’s hard to laugh at a girl experiencing a trip for the first time all while seeing that she is literally about to be assaulted by the middle aged man who drugged her. This jarring experience never dissipates, as the violence and sense of danger displayed towards the young women is always through a gross lens that borders on elements like torture or sex trafficking, while the actual dialogue banter going on between them sounds like something you should be hearing from a Jump Street movie (most of it thanks to Condor’s impeccable line deliveries).
It’s such a shame to have tone this dissonant and storylines this unengaging. Moments of potential, where the script manages to find a thematic connection between Devora and the troupe of young girls, are squandered and never addressed head-on. There could have been a much richer story here to accompany the action, because when it comes time for the action, Pretty Lethal delivers the goods.
From the girls discovering a neat trick involving taping box cutter blades onto the tips of their shoes (think Laura from Logan) to the film’s “main event,” with the girls dancing in unison and taking out a whole room of thugs through dance, it is clear that the action is why the filmmakers wanted to make this movie. It’s always when the girls are fighting via creative choreography that Pretty Lethal is at its most confident. And when Ziegler’s Bones gives an inspirational pep talk to her fellow dancers that no one takes more physical pain than they do, it’s a fun rallying cry for women to stand up and defend themselves.
But you can’t just immediately dip in quality the minute the fighting stops. Everything that surrounds the girls’ circumstances feels uninteresting, from the villains’ political infighting to the tacked-on explanations for character motivations. It fails to inform and elevate the action, leaving us to only enjoy the fight sequences in their most basic surface-level form. Even the choice to not give Uma Thurman, the Bride herself, a fight scene of her own feels like a missed opportunity.
Even with all these narrative setbacks, Pretty Lethal also comes across as that niche action movie that’s destined to gain a cult following over time. The action is not only well executed but also fairly original in its conception. The production design must also be commended, giving the film a rare antique grungy look and the camaraderie amongst the five girls is palpable. By the time the movie ends, you do feel like these young women will defend each other to the death. They are warriors, and you will root for them as warriors. I just wish there was a better movie that surrounded them.
Grade: C
This review is from the 2026 SXSW Film Festival.
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