Year:  2023

Director:  Molly Gordon, Nick Lieberman

Rated:  M

Release:  September 7, 2023

Distributor: Disney

Running time: 92 minutes

Worth: $17.99
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

Cast:
Ben Platt, Molly Gordon, Ayo Edebiri, Noah Galvin, Amy Sedaris, Jimmy Tatro, Caroline Aaron

Intro:
… likely to be one of the best comedies of 2023.

With enough conviction, you can get an audience to vibe with just about anything. Cannibalistic serial killers living on Fleet Street, U.S. senators having rap battles in Congress, sewer-dwelling men in masks, all presented through song because that is clearly how actual conversations are carried out; yes, the theatre, as clichéd as it is to say, can be quite a magical place. But there is no denying that it can get ridiculous. Add the prospect of children acting out these kinds of stories, not to mention the adults teaching them how to, and you have the bedrock for what is likely to be one of the best comedies of 2023.

The Camp in the film’s title should really be in all-caps, underlined in bold italics and at least twice the font size, to really get across just how CAMP this film truly is. This is Paul Lynde eating ambrosia salad on the set of Mommie Dearest levels of camp.

Presented as a Best imn Show-esque mockumentary, the camera follows theatre camp teachers Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) and Amos Klobuchar (Ben Platt) as they try to run their business in the midst of turbulent monetary issues and egos the size of the surrounding Adirondack mountains. The in-jokes here, concerning theatrical cliques, mannerisms of both teachers and students, not to mention just the plain silliness of the teachers’ self-made musical about the life story of the camp’s sponsor (Joan, as played by Strangers With Candy’s Amy Sedaris), is tailor-made for an audience of theatre kids who remember sitting through and even performing stuff like this. Ah, the good ol’ days of HSC Drama, when summoning demons before a live audience got you top marks.

And yet, much like the similarly in-jokey mannerisms of films like This Is Spinal Tap, the comedic timing and conviction of the performers as they rattle off these gags and one-liners is so on-point that even those outside that niche can still join in the fun. To that end, there isn’t any real sense of mean-spiritedness to the film’s sense of humour. It’s more like a healthy sense of self-awareness that this is a silly thing to be doing with your time… but there’s a reason why people choose to do this: It’s just really fun. What’s more, it proffers this melodramatic environment as a safe place for the naturally melodramatic, enthusiastic, dedicated, and those who wanted to be recognised for what they were capable of. It all comes from a place of love, right down to social media finance-bro Troy (Jimmy Tatro) finding something profound in the profoundly goofy.

Theater Camp is a comedy that will make your head spin. It wields a close-cutting understanding of life waiting in the wings, manning the spotlight, or desperately trying to make your own ends as you teach others to make theirs, and presents all the chaos and comfort of the thespian environment as both a warm hug and a heavy nudging of the ribs for those who have experienced it firsthand. And even for those who haven’t sweated under that pancake makeup and intensive lighting, it’s a terrific display of how the theatre is a place built on the absurd where the wondrous can also happen.

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