If you have ever experienced theater at an amateur or, even worse, grade school level, or have ever found yourself struggling to move on from an ex-partner, there may be a film for you. If you enjoy films such as Waiting for Guffman or The Producers, then there is another film right up your alley.
First debuting at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2026, The Musical, directed by Giselle Bonilla and written by Alexander Heller, is a dark comedy film about a middle-school theater director putting on a heinously inappropriate musical in order to sabotage his rival’s (the school’s principal) chances of receiving an academic excellence award. The Musical released globally on September 18th, 2026, and despite limited marketing, has proven to be a worthwhile film.
The Musical has a lot going for it before even viewing. It has a strong leading cast, complete with Will Brill, Rob Lowe, and Gillian Jacobs—all actors who have plenty of experience in comedies. Each of the lead actors brought a lot to their roles and really embodied their characters, especially Brill’s character, Doug, the aforementioned middle-school theater teacher. Brill is quite possibly the strongest part of this film, as he breathes a lot of life into an already larger-than-life story. I can say I consistently laughed throughout my viewing because of his line deliveries. His character takes everything seriously, even despite the insane premise, and allows the direction and writing to let the jokes flow naturally.
Speaking of humor, this film is incredibly funny. That said, some of the subject matter can be a bit extreme. The musical that Doug puts on for the school is about the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and though treated with the proper weight that any mention of the event requires, it still touches upon an extremely polarizing event in recent U.S. history. Even while dealing with heavy subject matter, in a comedy of all films, the film never feels cruel or outwardly insensitive. This is why I brought up The Producers earlier, as The Musical has a lot of similarities in how it handles making light of tragedy and using horrific events to make a statement about the sort of people who would exploit that for entertainment. The film never tries to glorify the events, and consistently shows that making a middle-school musical about such an event is a horrible thing to do. The film can seem immature because of the types of jokes it relies on, but it handles the nature of joking itself in a highly mature way.
The dynamic between Doug and Abigail (Gillian Jacobs’s character) was very well-written and compelling. It was refreshing to watch a film where you were rooting for nobody to really get together. The ‘love triangle’ between the three leads was done in a unique and fresh way, having them all work in the same workplace, but handling this with subtlety and thoughtfulness. The difficult emotions of a breakup really came across in the film, well aided by the film’s visual stylization and direction. The emotions felt genuine and as though the team making the movie really understood that heartbreaking feeling. Though a comedy first and foremost, the film did a great job balancing serious relationship drama, character moments, and humor.
Despite the praise I have for the film, I recognize that there are some weaker areas as well. Though this is beyond production, it does affect the perception of the film, and that is the limited care from studios that the film received. It got very little marketing, and was only shown in AMC movie theatres. Of course, this is a part of how the business is run. A lot of studies and market analysis go into deciding the distribution of a film, and especially for a film like The Musical, with its subject matter, it’s understandable why the film received a smaller push. However, I can’t help but think that with improved marketing, the film would have been received better critically. Critics have been mixed about the film, and though critics are hardly a judge of what is objective or true about a film, they do make an impact on how the film is perceived by potential audiences.
The Musical is a risky film to make. In a very politically polarized environment that the country is in right now, the film took a lot of guts to get finished. It’s important to note that this is the first feature-length film directed by Bonilla. It’s truly incredible to see more female filmmakers make their debuts. Bonilla is an alumna of the AFI Conservatory, and was a Sundance Institute Ignite Fellow. With this film, she has proven herself highly capable and I hope to see her name on more projects to come. It’s a very strong start to what will hopefully be a very successful career. It’s also very refreshing to see a female director on a darker comedy project, as these are typically the sorts of projects that male directors dominate. The nature of the situation also further frustrates me when it comes to the marketing of this film. But, despite the drawbacks that this film faced, it came out swinging, and I’d say it more than met the mark.
For any fans of comedy that can walk the line, so to speak, and really challenge audiences on what is acceptable to talk about, while also giving them a moving and relatable story about relationships and change, Giselle Bonilla’s The Musical is a film that I highly recommend you check out.
