PRETTY LETHAL (AMAZON PRIME) (2026)

SYNOPSIS: An action-packed thriller where five ballerinas, stranded in a remote forest on their way to a dance competition, take shelter at an unsettling roadside inn run by Devora Kasimer and must weaponize their elite training to survive.

MOVIE REVIEW:

How did an elegant dance form like ballet become such a violent tool in modern cinema? It arguably began with the John Wick franchise and its spin-off, From the World of John Wick: Ballerina.

87North Productions, the outfit behind those films, returns with Pretty Lethal, a brutal action movie that blends ballet with fight choreography. If that sounds absurd, don’t worry, this isn’t the kind of film that demands deep thinking. It’s loud, ridiculous, and unapologetically over-the-top like Donald Trump’s daily ramblings, but far more entertaining.

The story follows five young American ballerinas traveling to Budapest for a competition. When their bus breaks down, they seek refuge in a rundown hotel in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, the place is crawling with eccentric criminals led by an ex-ballerina, Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman). Trapped and outnumbered, the girls must put aside their differences and fight their way out or risk a far more horrific fate.

Pretty Lethal is, above all, a fun watch, thanks largely to the cast’s chemistry especially between Maddie Ziegler’s Bones and Lana Condor’s Princess. The two start off at odds but eventually emerge as the group’s leaders against enemies twice their size. Ziegler impresses with her swift spins and kicks, while Condor brings some welcome (and occasionally unintentional) humor.

Rising talents like Iris Apatow, Millicent Simmonds (from A Quiet Place), and Avantika round out the main cast, though they receive less screen time compared to Ziegler and Condor. Thurman is suitably imposing as the main antagonist, even if her Hungarian accent borders on cheesy.

Ultimately, this is a film that leans heavily on creative, gory kills and stylized action to compensate for its paper-thin plot. Even with side characters like a mysterious young man, Pasha (Tamás Szabó Sipos), his unseen crime boss father until the very end, a creepy doctor, and a troupe of bumbling henchmen, the narrative never quite matches the thrill of watching ballerinas dispatch enemies with razor blades hidden in their ballet shoes.

Instead of a straight-up torture-horror flick, Pretty Lethal delivers an outrageous action spectacle featuring not one, but five deadly ballerinas. The plot may be half-baked, but the absurd stunts and inventive fight sequences more than make up for it.

MOVIE RATING:

Review by Linus Tee