Ratched hit Netflix, his adaptation of the 2018 Broadway musical
The Prom arrives to the platform gussied up in a technicolor version of the same worshipful high school nostalgia as
Glee, and riddled with the same condescension toward “average” people that has defined so much of his output, from
Nip/Tuck to
The Politician. Murphy’s fondness for smashing down the walls surrounding certain American institutions and making them available for all to enjoy has never been particularly nuanced, and he directs
The Prom with the same bluntness. The film’s ultimate admiration of celebrity is only vaguely tolerable because its concurrent message of inclusivity is theoretically admirable but must it be delivered by the likes of a thoroughly exhausting, irredeemably self-satisfied James Corden?
The Prom review – Meryl Streep saves this party from disaster
Meryl Streep and James Corden in The Prom
If there’s one thing we’ve seen a lot of this year, its celebrities making things all about them. Anyone who cringed their way through Gal Gadot and friends’ Imagine cover in March will know how the rich and famous can often misjudge the tone during hard times. With this in mind, Netflix’s expensive musical The Prom seems perfectly timed. Directed by Ryan Murphy (Glee, American Horror Story) and based on the Broadway show, it combines old school razzle dazzle with very modern issues.