3.5/5
Ryan Murphy’s The Prom, while deeply flawed, is a much better film than it has any right to be and is likely to strike a chord in the heart of any former (or current) musical theatre kid. There’s a wry cynicism in the first act’s skewering of the ways in which celebrities (or pseudo-celebrities in this case) can attempt to hijack a worthy cause and make one person’s struggles all about themselves in an effort to “help.” There are also some lovely, emotionally honest moments throughout about what it’s like to be an LGBTQ+ teen living in a more intolerant community, making this a film has the potential to be really important for LGBTQ+ youth today. However, the film starts to fall apart in the middle and you can see the plot machinery grinding along to its inevitable, charming finale. Character motivations become fuzzy, plot points cease to have stakes, and some of the most important character arcs are resolved with a single line of dialogue, cheapening the investment we’ve placed in their growth. Meryl Streep finds the best balance between self-obsessed narcissist and wanna-be savior, and both Keegan-Michael Key and newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman transcend the material, while the rest of the cast turn in admirable performances – with a few one-note exceptions. Director Ryan Murphy never quite gets a handle on the visual language needed to make the transition from a Broadway production to a feature film – especially in the editing rhythms and the moments when he leans too heavily into the under-lit naturalism of the prom sequences – but when he allows for moments of cinematic theatricality, the effect is magical. It’s far from perfect, but I found it unexpectedly moving, and if there are those who find solace in this, who am I to complain?
