Film Review: THE MUSICAL (2026): A Way-Out-There Comedy That Could Please ELECTION Fans

The Musical Review

The Musical (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Giselle Bonilla, written by Alexander Heller and starring Rob Lowe, Will Brill, Gillian Jacobs, Chyler Emery Stern, Karen Maruyama, Michael Strassner, Lili Alice, Nevada Jose, Cayden Romero, Hannes Schaller, Vivian Dao, Aidyn Ahn, Kor Wren, Kade Davis, Polina Antonia, Wade Stanton and Devin Villarreal.  

Filmmaker Giselle Bonilla’s disturbing comedy, The Musical, can frustrate and anger viewers at certain instances, but it still has a lot to say about aggressiveness and how teachers can utilize children’s innocence in inappropriate ways. While the movie is undeniably in horrible taste due to its main character’s actions, it has an odd appeal, similar to the Matthew Broderick/Reese Witherspoon 1999 comedy, Election, and if one can get past the initial premise, there are a lot of enjoyable scenes, to be certain.

This film’s premise will take a leap of faith to buy, though. It suggests that a disgruntled middle-aged teacher, Doug (Will Brill), could have some middle school musical theater kids put on two shows, simultaneously. One is for the public’s knowledge (West Side Story) while the other is a sick fantasy the students are performing in private (a 9/11 representation) that is meant to be swapped out for the main show when the parents, press and faculty actually get to see it.

It may provoke some gasps from the audience when we see scenes of the 9/11 play within the film. A kid plays Rudy Giuliani in the film’s most twisted moments, suggesting that 9/11 was more than it appeared to be on the surface. Of course, the viewpoints in the show belong to the deranged Doug, but they are hard to watch for the every day viewer, who may just want to see Doug punished more than the movie allows him to be.

Rob Lowe expertly plays the principal of the school, Brady, a guy who is so caught up in himself and his Blue Ribbon award that he accidentally allows the play to go on. When he sees the kids doing West Side Story, the students struggle, but Brady gives them another chance and they actually do better because, in secret, they really want to do the 9/11 play for Doug.

Gillian Jacobs serves as Abigail, who is a teacher that once dated Doug, but who goes for Brady now, which makes Doug intensely angry. If Doug couldn’t get any scarier, there are scenes where he lashes out at the faculty late in the movie, which makes one wonder how he could even be walking the streets after that. He needs to be institutionalized.

This film’s best asset is the use of the Enigma song “Return to Innocence” towards the ending. It allows the viewer to understand that the kids were manipulated in a darkly humorous way and it’s also just a really great song. This movie goes off the deep end several times with very poorly put together snippets from the 9/11 play. However, outside of those scenes, the movie is tolerable and makes one think about how children can be manipulated even though they are doing certain things out of genuine sincerity. These kids are tricked, but think they’re doing a good thing for Doug.

The Musical does have a good turn by Will Brill as the demented teacher.  He has a solid grasp on his role and Gillian Jacobs shines in her brief scenes beside him. Rob Lowe has some of the funnier scenes, such as when he tries to take credit for the whole school production hat Doug puts on, thinking it’s going to be West Side Story, not the 9/11 production travesty.

The Musical is a lot like Election in terms of how it shows the dark side of teachers. Sometimes, there are great teachers in the world who excel at what they do, and at other times, there are those theories that those who can’t do, teach. Doug is that type of teacher who is only in it for himself and because he can’t get a fellowship, teaching becomes his last resort. Matthew Broderick was much more sympathetic in Election, but was certainly cut from a similar cloth as Doug.

While it’s hard to buy that all the children could keep the musical they are secretly performing such a secret from their parents, the film makes it feel a little more believable than the viewer may want it to actually play out. The Musical has big ideas, but they’re only successful if you relate at all to Doug. Since he’s a truly antisocial person at the end of the day, it’s hard to believe he even gets the kids to perform anything. However, the movie has some funny scenes and it provokes discomfort that makes it a curiosity piece for people who like movies that take big risks, whether they fully succeed or not.

Rating: 6/10

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