Let’s see here: a group of innocent young women: check. A breakdown in a foreign country in the middle of the night: check. A trek in the dark through sinister woods to a secluded roadside inn: check. Gnarly, leering strangers with less-than-honorable intentions inside: check.
Pretty Lethal is a mashup of all sorts of action genres. I count six before the title credit.
Yet it’s a hoot. It’s clever, and it’s surprising, and I laughed out loud several times.
A dysfunctional troupe of ballerinas, bickering amongst themselves to be the perfect swan, is tapped to travel to Budapest, Hungary, to perform a classical ballet. Bonnie a.k.a. Bones (Maddie Ziegler) is the fearless one, in competition to be prima with Princess (Lana Condor). Grace (Avantika Vandanapu) approaches everything with a religious fervor. Zoe (Iris Apatow, Judd and Leslie’s daughter, all grown up since This Is 40) is the protective sister of deaf dancer Chloe (Millicent Simmonds). Ms. Thorna (Lydia Leonard) is their chaperone and protector.
This is the crew that breaks down in the remote Hungarian woods, makes their way to a dark mansion populated with brawny Hostel-style henchmen. Because of the rain, they are forced to wear their pristine costumes while their traveling clothes dry. They soon realize they are not in the safest hands and are, in fact, prisoners of these burly dudes (including Julian Krenn and Béla Orsányi), led by a mysterious femme fatale, Mistress Devora. She’s the owner of the place and a former ballerina whose career came to an untimely end years ago.
Pursued, abused, and almost tattooed, the dancers rally and decide that the only way out of there is to put aside their squabbles and band together. Bones issues the battle cry after besting two assailants: “These guys are drunk and out of shape, and we’re prima fucking ballerinas!” And so, dressed in tutus, they plié and pirouette their way to freedom. Their increasingly blood-stained costumes become a running joke.
The actors give it their all, the set pieces are inventive (one, with the ballerinas dancing while kicking the asses of an overwhelming flood of brutes, channels Kill Bill Vol. 1, especially since their nemesis, Mistress Devora, is played with vitality by Beatrice Kiddo herself, Uma Thurman. Devora’s failed past and her debt to a criminal kingpin are integral to one of several climaxes.
Director Vicky Jewson delivers ninety minutes of well-conceived thrills. Her direction is crisp; she has many characters to juggle, aided by expert, nearly invisible compositing and stunt work. Writer Kate Freund takes the part of Sona, Mistress Devora’s second in command. Those ballerinas are all played by former child actors. The absurd images of Sugar Plum Fairies amongst bloody carnage is worth the price of admission.
As usual, I have a problem with the title. Can’t anybody name anything anymore? “Pretty?” Why, because the ballerinas are pretty? “Lethal” because there’s a body count? Really? How folks who can bring you such an original and fun film come up with a title that sounds like a 1980s teen drama is beyond me.
The film’s been in development for a while. Lena Headey was originally cast, presumably as Mistress Devora. It was originally titled Ballerina Overdrive (better, but no cigar).
Pretty Lethal is released on Prime Video. It deserves a better name and all of your attention.
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Pretty Lethal. Directed by Vicky Jewson. 2026. Released by Amazon MGM Studios. Runtime 88 minutes.