Title: The Musical
MPA Rating: Not Rated
Director: Giselle Bonilla
Starring: Rob Lowe, Gillian Jacobs, Will Brill
Runtime: 1 hr 27 mins

What It Is: Doug (Brill) is a middle school theater teacher — and a frustrated playwright. He was seeing fellow teacher Abigail (Jacobs), but it doesn’t work out, and she moves on to Doug’s nemesis: the school principal (Lowe), a man very different from him.

When it comes time for the school to produce its annual musical, they choose West Side Story. When Principal Brady announces that the school has a chance to win the Blue Ribbon of Academic Excellence, Doug sees a new opportunity. In secret, he plots to write and stage a musical so offensive that Principal Brady couldn’t possibly achieve his goal.

What We Think: So, straight up: people are going to hate this. They’re going to hate it a lot. It’s a dark comedy that does not skimp on saying exactly what it wants to say. It’s also really damn funny.

Will Brill plays a complete mess of a man, and Rob Lowe as his foil is simply excellent. This is a huge swing for a first-time feature from director Giselle Bonilla, but at every step she puts the right foot forward. I was laughing out loud at several moments and grinning just as hard at the pure snark in others.

Our Grade: B+, This is a delightfully dark — and genuinely funny — comedy. Thankfully, it pulls no punches in its efforts to both make us laugh and make us uncomfortable. It’s in that discomfort where this film lives. Brill is completely unhinged, especially toward the end. He truly makes the movie, but it’s the kids playing Doug’s students who light up the screen. They’re fantastic.

A big recommendation on this one.