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Credit: Prime Video
It’s rare (but not unheard of, thanks to last year’s John Wick spinoff Ballerina) that the leads of your action thriller come in the form of ballet dancers. Pretty Lethal hits the 2026 movie release calendar on March 25, featuring a handful of ballerinas who are forced to use their training to fight their way out of an inn full of dangerous gangsters. Critics screened the movie, and while opinions are mixed, they mostly agree there’s some “bonkers” ballet-fu fun to be found.
Pretty Lethal has acquired a great cast, including Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Iris Apatow, Millicent Simmonds and Avantika, with Uma Thurman playing the owner of the inn who has a tragic history with ballet. Matt Donato of Daily Dead rates it 3.5 out of 5, saying that it’s not a perfect movie by any means, but for a streaming popcorn flick, it’s “a pretty fun lil’ ass-beater.” The critic says:
It is, as expected, a ridiculous concept. Writer Kate Freund doesn’t care all that much about having us believe the scenario is plausible. Pretty Lethal is a loopy action flick tailored for women, made by women, and caters to its target audience first. Sure, that leaves some preposterous details dangling, and hinges much of the audience’s enjoyment on adrenaline-fueled entertainment that can be thinly written. Freund’s story ping-pongs between tonal shifts in a jumble, whether it’s sleek reenactments of over-the-top action spectacles, comedic drug-trip hallucinations, or the darkness of merciless survival thrillers.
Glenn Garner of Deadline says Uma Thurman leaves “no crumbs” in her performance and is complemented by the talented young dancers around her, as director Vicky Jewson puts her twist on the action genre through a “darkly comedic, emotionally wrought female lens.” Garner continues:
In Pretty Lethal, Jewson manages to walk that line of gritty dark action, a la John Wick and Tarantino’s entire toxically masculine oeuvre, balanced with unapologetic laughs and an emotionally satisfying story of sisterhood. It’s proof positive that the boys club of Hollywood’s go-to action directors is long overdue for a shakeup.
Grant Hermanns of ScreenRant isn’t quite as enthusiastic about the new action movie, rating it a 5 out of 10. The critic says there are some unique, if a little sloppy, action sequences, but with an underwhelming script and no depth to the characters, the “ballet-fu” can only take it so far. More from the review:
With a few sequences that nicely incorporate some ballet with the fight choreography, and a mostly compelling cast, Pretty Lethal isn’t entirely a miss. It would have been nice to see the ballerinas infuse more of their dance skills into the action, much in the way David Harbour’s Violent Night mixed a lot of its Santa magic in with its hand-to-hand sequences. But, for those looking for a reasonably diverting and fast-paced ode to female empowerment, this remains worth tuning into.
Angie Han of THR says one third-act fight scene seems to be the entire reason Pretty Lethal exists in the first place with its “John Wick-meets-The Nutcracker choreography.” While that’s undeniably fun, Han says, the movie is ultimately forgettable. The critic continues:
Once Pretty Lethal finally reaches its big showcase, it’s possible to see what this project could and should have been: a bonkers marriage of fantastical choreography and graphic brutality, classical beauty and a very modern griminess. With that bright shining number, the film simultaneously justifies all the work it took to get there — and throws into sharp relief just how drab the rest of it has been by comparison.
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert rates the movie 1.5 stars out of 4, citing minimal character development, Hostel levels of brutality that throw off the tone and a criminal underutilization of Uma Thurman. The critic says:
Pretty Lethal is a film rife with solid wind-ups but almost no follow-through. Even Thurman’s character is given a rich back story of a ballet career derailed by the crime lord father of the thug who incites the action of the night with a gunshot, but it ends up running too parallel to the troupe’s story instead of really interacting with it. Almost criminally, Thurman isn’t even given an action scene. You don’t hire The Bride and give her a part that it feels like anyone could pay.
It sounds like Pretty Lethal shines the brightest when we’re seeing the ballerinas do their John Wick-esque thing, though a shallow script, tonal imbalances and a waste of Uma Thurman’s talents have left some critics less than enthused. If you want to check out the ballet-fu action thriller, Pretty Lethal is streaming now with a Prime Video subscription.