PRETTY LETHAL
Section: Headliner
Director: Vicky Jewson
Screenwriter: Kate Freund
Logline: An action-packed thriller where five ballerinas, stranded in a remote forest, take shelter at an unsettling roadside inn. They must weaponize years of brutal training, turning grace, discipline, and even pointe shoes into tools for survival.
Panelists: Avantika, Millicent Simmonds, Iris Apatow, Maddie Ziegler, Lana Condor, Uma Thurman
Key Quote: “In order to create ‘ballet-fu’ action that we created, we really did start from ballet. We did a lot of work in creating a glossary, a dictionary of fight moves. And the key thing within our team was for every stunt double, we also had a ballet double. They were mainly from the Royal Opera in London. They gave their blood, sweat and tutus,” director Vicky Jewson said of the group of 15 girls that brought together the main quintet in action. “Everybody had their own person, and they stuck with them throughout the whole movie. For me, what was really inspiring was that right at the beginning of the process of the movie, I wanted to understand, because I feel great action is really rooted in authenticity. And if you can really believe your characters are in jeopardy, and then you can believe that they’ve sourced and found this ‘ballet-fu,’ rather than it being, ‘Oh, look at this a kick.’ think that was something that really culminated in the bar fight.”
Deadline Studio at SXSW presented by Redbreast Irish Whiskey.