Starring Grandma 

I write for a diversity-focused film review blog, so I’ll be honest: I really wanted to like Pretty Lethal. Starring Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Avantika, and Millicent Simmonds, Amazon Prime’s new thriller seemed like it would be a girl power movie about dancers with a horror action twist. Sort of a Suspiria for teens. But with shallow and unlikeable characters, a confusing plot, an overreliance on violence, and cringey dialogue, any fun the movie started out with was quickly lost. What was left was a faint echo of greater horror movies about dancers made before. 

The sequel to the first film, A Second Chance: Rivals! talks about Maddy combating cyberbullying and racism.

Why did Māhū, a term once respected in Hawaiian culture, become so controversial?

The re-living of this historic trial through this film is relevant to current politics and disturbingly enjoyable to watch due to the excellent performances from the ensemble cast. If you like a juicy courtroom drama, this film will definitely scratch that itch in a really chilling manner.

Battles will come and go and queer people do die for their identity and fights for rights, but that doesn’t mean the gays don’t deserve their happy endings in stories.

Falling in love with 'Rocketman" all over again.