This assessment was a part of our protection of the 2023 Sundance Movie Competition. It has been republished for the movie’s theatrical launch. 

The Pitch: “You should know that solely 3% of individuals make it. The remaining find yourself in a psychological facility — or a Go Go field in Hell’s Kitchen.” Welcome to AdirondACTS, a comfy, scrappy theater camp the place such nuggets of knowledge are imparted upon younger thespians. Over the course of the summer season, we see the trivia of theater camp play out in a mockumentary-style movie, sharply directed by Nick Lieberman and Molly Gordon (each making their function directorial debuts).

First framed as a documentary following AdirondACTS founder Joan (Amy Sedaris), issues start to go awry when she falls right into a coma — a results of “the primary Bye Bye Birdie-associated damage within the historical past of Passaic County” — leaving former campers, finest buddies, and devoted instructors Amos (Ben Platt) and Rebecca-Diane (Molly Gordon) to choose up the items whereas Joan’s chaotic son Troy (Jimmy Tatro) tries his finest to maintain issues afloat.

AdirondACTS is rounded out by Clive (Nathan Lee Graham) as our dance teacher, Janet (Ayo Edebiri) dealing with stage fight, Gigi (Owen Thiele) main costume design, and Glenn (Noah Galvin) operating tech. And if that weren’t sufficient, we’re graced by Alan Kim as an aspiring agent and an ideal look from the always-welcome Patti Harrison as an opportunistic investor hoping to soak up AdirondACTS right into a flashier close by camp.

Depend Me In: In the beginning, the enjoyment of Theater Camp lies in its pitch-perfect particulars. The script, co-written by Platt, Gordon, Galvin, and Lieberman, is laugh-out-loud humorous, rampant with hyperspecific particulars that will ship a shudder down the backbone of each one who may acknowledge the names Interlochen, Stagedoor Manor, or Frenchwoods. It’s a film that might solely have been written by a gaggle of people that know the way high-stakes essentially the most native of productions can really feel: It’s humorous not as a result of it’s unkind or exaggerated, however as a result of it’s all so wildly true.

“Let’s throw some spices in there,” Platt’s Amos directs a young person engaged on a scene. “A bit of cinnamon, slightly ache, slightly stepfather.” Later, working with the identical camper, he notes that he’s “not likely feeling how the element of getting IBS is impacting the character.” It’s good.