Movie review
March 13, 2026 · 90 min · R
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Pretty Lethal is an action movie about five young ballerinas whose bus breaks down in Hungary on their way to a dance contest. To survive a deadly attack at a remote inn, they must use their ballet skills as fighting weapons against a local crime gang. The film relies heavily on female empowerment themes, showing delicate female dancers easily defeating larger male gangsters. It also emphasizes diversity by framing a deaf dancer's hearing loss as a physical superpower.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Pretty Lethal.
Woke representation / casting
The five lead dancers represent a highly diverse group, including Asian and Indian-American actresses. Deaf actress Millicent Simmonds plays a deaf dancer, and her role was intentionally rewritten to highlight her hearing loss as a positive strength. This represents a clear priority for diverse and inclusive casting.
Woke political dialogue
The script avoids direct political lectures or activist jargon. Dialogue is mostly limited to basic action movie talk and a few empowering statements about how strong and disciplined ballerinas are compared to the out-of-shape criminals.
Identity-driven story themes
The story is built around a female empowerment fantasy. It focuses on how delicate, feminine ballerinas can use their ballet skills to beat up much larger men. It also frames disability as a superpower, which fits with modern identity-driven themes of redefining power and strength.
Western institutional / cultural critique
There is no deep critique of Western society or capitalism. However, the film subverts traditional gender roles by showing bulky male gangsters who are easily outsmarted and killed by young women. Traditional ideas about female fragility are treated as a mistake.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. This is an original movie and is not based on any pre-existing books, movies, or historical figures.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Some conservative critics complained about the film's reliance on unrealistic girlboss tropes, pointing out the silly physical mismatch of tiny dancers defeating trained mobsters. However, the backlash was very small because the film went straight to streaming.
Creator track record context
Director Vicky Jewson is known for focusing on feminist action themes. She and screenwriter Kate Freund openly designed the film to showcase female power. However, the producers from 87North have a purely commercial track record with no interest in progressive activism.
