You don’t have to be in aspiring thespian (or the parent of one) to enjoy this warm, funny debut feature from Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman.

Co-written by the duo with stars Ben Platt (who plays Amos) and Noah Galvin (who plays tech triple threat Glenn), it pokes, gentle fun at any drama camp ever as well as any Hollywood TV or movie that has cute and precocious kids.

The awkwardly named ‘Adirond Acts’ theatre camp is ramshackle and beloved and dependent on it’s leading light Joan (Amy Sedaris in a blink and you’ll miss her role). When she is incapacitated, her naive, influencer son, Troy (Jimmy Tatro) – an ‘en-Troy-preneur’ – takes over.

The stallwarts of the camp – head of music, Rebecca-Diane (Gordon), drama, Amos (Platt), costume, Gigi (Owen Thiele) and dance, Clive, (Nathan Lee Graham) – keep it all running in a deliciously over the top way. That is until evil rival camp Lakeside tries for a hostile takeover.

You know the beats but it is the whip smart dialogue and characters that never descend into simple stereotypes that lift it from predictability. Unfortunately the sound at the Comedy Theatre where I saw the film was so bad that I’m going to have to rewatch it so that I can catch all the jokes. I can’t wait!

Directors: Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman
Origin: USA (2023)
Language: English
Genre: Comedy

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