People draw from their own personal experiences when they write, which can be positive and inspirational but may also require some tweaking – or productive supervision – from a more objective editor before being put out into the world. The Musical imagines what could happen when someone who works closely with children to put on theater writes his vendetta into a play that by no means should ever be seen by an audience. What ensues is an entirely over-the-top and hilarious ride, with every new bad decision formidable fodder for comedy.
Doug (Will Brill) never planned to be a middle school drama teacher, but it’s where he’s found himself stuck. When his former girlfriend, fellow teacher Abigail (Gillian Jacobs), tells him that she’s now dating Principal Brady (Rob Lowe) and he gets rejected from a fellowship that would have brought him to New York City, he decides to secretly swap out the planned production of West Side Story for an original script covering a range of problematic themes. As the performance approaches, the cast is forced to learn their original lines when Brady becomes more involved, insisting on sitting in on rehearsals, which only pushes Doug closer to the edge.
This is the first feature film directed by Giselle Bonilla, who guides an ensemble cast of adults and children to a perfect level of button-pushing but immensely watchable. The script from Alexander Heller is stuffed full of laughs, and the music, cinematography, and editing heighten all of that by framing Doug as someone ready to lose it who never chooses the right way to let out his pent-up range. Watching him throw darts in a bar and come nowhere near the outer circle is just one warning of his instability, but the fact that, prior to Brady’s sudden supervision, he’s left unchecked to poison the minds of these kids with diatribes about the Machine and how their lives will likely ultimately lead nowhere, is the biggest red flag which, fortunately, in a film like this just means more laughs.
Brill milks each moment, line, and expression for everything it’s worth, and it’s endlessly funny watching him hatch maniacal plans driven by his pettiness. Lowe and Jacobs are well-cast for their parts, but the true stars of this film are the kids, who sweetly got to plug their backgrounds when audiences at the Sundance premiere chanted for them to join the adult cast and crew on stage. The three most prominent players to watch are Melanie Herrera and Chyler Emery Stern as actresses vying for the lead role and Nevada Jose as Doug’s loyal disciple who takes the work even more seriously than Doug does. Those with smaller parts are just as good, and they serve as a nice compliment to Doug’s immature energy.
This film gets away with a handful of jokes – and plot points – that might seem incendiary and offensive in the wrong hands, but they’re executed perfectly to make it clear that they’re products of Doug’s twisted imagination being enacted by these kids who don’t know better but will surely grow up with serious questions about what they experienced under his tutelage and direction. The title might scare off audiences who think this is only for theater camp devotees or those who enjoy musical numbers, but the actual performances – fun as they are – take a backseat to Doug’s revenge story, which is undeniably hilarious. As a film in its own right, The Musical is a laugh riot and an absolute winner, but it’s just as effective as an indicator to watch carefully to follow and find what Bonilla and her young cast to do next.
Movie Rating: 8/10
The Musical premieres in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
