TV Review: Tiny Pretty Things Flourishes In Its Chaos
Coming to Netflix December 14, Tiny Pretty Things feels like Pretty Little Liars and the film Black Swan decided to create a tv show together. with a solid cast of actors and dancers whom are equally committed to moving their bodies as they are dramatizing their feelings, Tiny Pretty Things is fun, and, right now, the world needs that.There is a clear, youthful sinisterness to the series that people will love because it is addicting, deranged, overly-sexed, and actually leads to some serious dancing. Yes, in a show based on a dance school, there is actual dancing….. and a KILLER!
I always love when shows about schools never have the students in class. In a way, it makes sense… my school years were pretty much a social event for me. Yet, I digress. For Tiny Pretty Things, every character can pirouette and out snark each other all at once. Thus, as they try to compete with each other for top billing in whatever show or routine is on deck, they also are trying to figure out whether they can like each other enough to figure out who wanted to kill Cassie Shore (played by Anna Maiche in flashbacks and as hauntingly stunning ghost).
If you have not seen the trailer, then you know Cassie is the prima ballerina that gets tossed from a roof while practicing her dance moves. Well, she ends up in a coma that leaves her friends both devastated and, apparently, horny. There is a messiness to Tiny Pretty Things that strangely works. Emotionally, it can feel charmingly jumbled. With characters like, Bette (Casimere Jollette) going from prissy, perfectionist princess to full-on addict within two episodes, while Shane (Brennan Clost) can leap from the shade room to grab a moral measuring tape and check the height of everyone’s virtue. In essence, every character feels like two glued together, Michael Hsu Rosen’s Habil i the loyal boyfriend to Bae that is 100% embracing becoming Naveah’s potential bae, and Daniela Norman’s June is a ripe mix of rigid and released. Perhaps, creator Samir Rehem understands that being young and talented can feel like an emotional juxtaposition, which is why Kylie Jefferson’s Naveah is a perfect lead of sorts.
In truth, the whole cast is equally spotlighted, but Neveah is the special one in the ballet academy. She is the “diversity initiative” used to change the now deadly image of the school: a place where young women are thrown off buildings. Naveah is aware of this and fights this “image imposition” the only way she knows how: dancing. Yet, she has a baggage of family drama and inner fragility that rears its head with no lead-in besides Kylie Jefferson’s ability to make you believe in her strength. #fierce Moreover, her capacity to have chemistry with fellow characters like, Oren (Barton Cowperthwaite), whom carry their own brokeness solidifies this is a show about how we can place grace in our bodies but, our hearts, need different methods. Still, it is the show’s lack of fluidity that makes it feel like the New York City Ballet’s rendition of Gossip Girl: gorgeous, luxurious, vicious, and, again, addicting.
From Riverdale to 90210, there are certain shows that were not made to be “good” as much as entertaining. Sometimes, they don’t make sense and totally baffle you in how we leapt into a part of the storyline. Yet, with a solid cast of actors and dancers whom are equally committed to moving their bodies as they are dramatizing their feelings, Tiny Pretty Things is fun, and, right now, the world needs that.
