Dancing Queens (2021)

 

Streaming Services: Netflix
Movie Name/Year: Dancing Queens (2021)
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Length: 110 minutes
Rating: TV-MA
Production/Distribution: Sweetwater Productions, Netflix
Director: Helena Bergström
Writer: Helena Bergström, Denize Karabuda
Actors: Molly Nutley, Christopher Wollter, Fredrik Quinones, Ann Westin, Claes Malmberg, Emil Almén, Marie Göranzon, Mattias Nordkvist, Max Ulveson,Rakel Wärmländer
 
Blurb from IMDb:  The story of Dylan Pettersson, a 23 year old girl from a small island in the Swedish archipelago with big dancing aspirations.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
 I love dance-oriented productions. I’ve seen, and adored, all of the Step Up (2006) movies and So You Think You Can Dance (2005-) is one of my favorite shows. I’m very sad that the COVID-19 pandemic has prevented SYTYCD from filming this year, so you can imagine that I was pretty excited to be watching something that would scratch that itch – even in some small capacity. Dancing Queens may not have appeared on the main Top 20 list for June of 2021, but it did land as my personal #19.  
 
When Selina and I were watching trailers in preparation for our Top 20 list-making, we compared the vibe the trailer gave us to Save the Last Dance (2001). It felt like the plot of Dancing Queens would be something along those lines, but with a drag show twist. I was rather disappointed that the movie didn’t live up to that expectation.

 
I’m not entirely sure why Dancing Queens was labeled a comedy, either. I’m actually a bit baffled. The film wasn’t devoid of laughter for me, but it was more maudlin than anything. Dancing Queens deals with a young woman’s journey in pursuing her dreams in the wake of losing her mother. There weren’t really many comedic elements at all. Don’t let that label on IMDb fool you.
 
I can’t tell you how thankful I was that Netflix has an audio option to watch Dancing Queens dubbed in English. I don’t know if I would have made it through the whole movie with subtitles. It would have been too distracting. I don’t think this is one of those movies that would make me forget I was reading as events played out on the screen. I would have been all too aware of it.
 
Some of the pacing was odd, and there were bits thrown in here and there that could have been left out to make a more streamlined story. It felt just a bit on the long side.
 
There was a great opportunity here to give a voice to multiple aspects of the LGBTQ+ community, and it feels like Dancing Queens missed the mark. I wouldn’t go out of my way to steer anyone away from this movie, but I can’t see myself really recommending it, either.

 
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 40%
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 5.4/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 2.5/5

Trust the Dice: Parental Advisory Rating – PG-13
 
P.S. - There are additional scenes during the credits.
 
Movie Trailer: