Sundance 2026: The Musical

4/5

Best seen knowing as little as possible, the premise is deceptively simple: Doug (Will Brill) decides to sabotage his school’s Blue Ribbon chances after discovering that his art-teacher colleague—and ex-fling—(Gillian Jacobs, aka Britta Perry) is now dating the hunky, effortlessly cool principal (Rob Lowe). This is a revenge tale filtered through Tim Robinson’s sensibilities, and it absolutely rips.

Doug is the perfect antihero—fixated on all the wrong questions, incapable of taking a hint, and fueled by spite as one of his primary motivators. It’s this deeply unlikeable character that makes the entire film work. While Jacobs and Lowe play recognizable archetypes (which is perfectly fine given what the script demands), Brill dares to foreground the uglier emotions we prefer to deny but inevitably harbor.

The film smartly centers Doug’s inner monologue, and while his revenge spiral can be difficult to fully relate to, it’s the kids who ground the story. Mikey is the MVP, and the conflict between the two leads in the school play feels genuinely lived-in. When you’re a kid, the stakes feel enormous, and the dynamic between Doug and his students works so well because, as he regresses into absurdity, he treats these minor slights with the same outsized seriousness they do.

The film is supremely confident, punctuated by an all-timer of a title card drop, and it somehow makes room for empathy without excusing Doug’s behavior. It understands how easy it is to justify your actions once anger takes hold. Art is rooted in emotion, and spite and rage are no less valid than love or empathy—but they come at a cost.

That confidence extends to the ending, which feels earned and functions as a strong denouement to a film that will likely leave your jaw on the floor for most of its runtime. We’re all human, and sometimes you really do just need to get it out of your system—and maybe there shouldn’t be quite so much shame in that.