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Theater Camp Movie Review

Theater Camp is a 2023 mockumentary dramedy film directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman and starring Ben Platt and Gordon herself. It’s a very limited in appeal flick.

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“I totally believe her as a French prostitute.

Sorry. Sex worker“

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Eccentric staff members of an upstate New York theatre camp must band together when their beloved founder falls into a coma. This movie received a lot of acclaim from critics, but watching it as somebody who isn’t a theater-goer, it failed to capture my attention. In fact, rarely have I seen such a blatantly limited in appeal film that only those who follow this industry can really appreciate.

My main issue with the film is that it’s supposed to be a comedy, but it is so devoid of any laughs throughout that it made me question whether they even tried to make a comedy. The mockumentary format clearly suggests that intention, but even that format is not well executed at all, leaving a lot to be desired in terms of memorable dialogue, editing and structure.

Theater Camp is also populated with characters that were either uninteresting or plain unsympathetic as was the case with Ben Platt. This actor was never likable to me in the slightest and here he was just as annoying as ever. Molly Gordon fared better, but their relationship took too much of the screen time away from other characters, who seriously suffered as a result.

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It’s a well made movie technically speaking. The acting performances are fine and the musical aspects are actually quite great with the soundtrack being the film’s strongest suit. It’s also a well paced flick that goes by quickly given its short runtime. I just wished for more humor, better characterization and a story that includes more meaningful themes. This plot was so bare-bones that it simply did not suffice.