2023 Movie
Dir. Molly Gordon & Nick Lieberman · United States of America · English
Made with obvious love, this riotous shot of mockumentary joy also has a surprisingly sincere heart
You don’t have to be a theater kid to enjoy this feel-good mockumentary set in a summer camp for junior thespians. While there are plenty of in-jokes here for those who might have spent a summer or two somewhere like AdirondACTS, Theater Camp also good-naturedly lampoons every instantly recognizable stereotype of theater kids and the classic failed-performer-turned-teacher.
Amongst the note-perfect ensemble, particularly hilarious standouts include co-writer Ben Platt and co-director Molly Gordon as camp instructors and best friends Amos and Rebecca-Diane. Both are Juilliard rejects with codependency issues and a classic case of actorly self-indulgence — as encapsulated in the moment they accuse a young attendee of “doping” for using artificial tears during a performance (“Do you want to be the Lance Armstrong of theater?”). But even seasoned performers like Platt and Gordon can’t pull the spotlight away from the film’s absurdly talented young ensemble, who are just as game for poking fun at their passion: standouts include Luke Islam, Alexander Bello, and Minari’s Alan Kim as a pint-sized “aspiring agent” who skips dance class to make business calls. All this self-satirising never obscures the movie’s heart, though; what begins as a self-deprecating ribbing of theater-heads ultimately becomes a rousing love letter to those very same misfits.
After the indomitable and beloved founder of a scrappy theater camp in upstate New York falls into a coma, the eccentric staff must band together with her clueless "crypto-bro" son to keep the thespian paradise afloat.
"This celebration of dorks, divas, and devotion to one’s art would feel sweet at any time, but as actors join writers on the picket line, it ends up being a little spicy as well."
— Alison Willmore
"The screenwriters... find ways to turn potential cliches into something fresh and funny. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, jeez, you might even sing."
— Kate Erbland
When the founder of a children's summer theater camp falls into a coma, it’s up to her self-obsessed employees and clueless tech-bro son (Jimmy Tatro) to save the camp from foreclosure.
“Joan, Still” — the original musical that Amos and Rebecca-Diane write in honor of the camp’s comatose founder — is full of legitimate bangers, but none more so than the finale number, “Camp Isn’t Home.” The song isn’t just the emotional climax of the “Joan, Still” but also of Theater Camp itself, melding humor with a heartwarming paean to places like AdirondACTS and the social outcasts who find a sense of belonging there.
“Joan, Still” Tony when?
Spirit Awards
3 noms
Sundance
1 nom
Farah Cheded is a UK-based curator at A Good Movie to Watch and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved freelance critic whose work has been published at outlets including The Playlist, Paste Magazine, and Film School Rejects. She lives in fear of the day she runs out of 'Columbo' episodes to watch.
Great movie, thanks for the recommendation.