'Theater Camp' Review: Mockumentaries Are Back | Sundance 2023

The film knows its audience.

Molly Gordon and Ben Platt in the film Theater Camp. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

The “mockumentary” isn’t a genre that is often visited and is more commonly seen in television shows (i.e., The Office, Modern Family). This is one of the many reasons why Theater Camp is not only a breath of fresh air but a truly great movie. We open with the documentary crew following Joan (Amy Sedaris), the founder and leader of AdirondACTS, a summer camp based in the Adirondacks mountains in upstate New York. When the strobe lights of a production of Bye Bye Birdie put her into a seizure-induced coma, the documentary has no choice but to refocus itself on the new camp leader, Joan’s crypto-bro “en-Troy-preneurial” son Troy (Jimmy Tatro). The film feels very vérité, with well-crafted dialogue from the film’s four writers, Ben Platt, Noah Galvin, and co-directors Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman, who are adapting their 2020 short film of the same name.

Ben Platt and Molly Gordon in the film Theater Camp. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

Let’s be very clear: Theater Camp is hilarious. No group of people is better to make jokes out of and criticize theater kids than theater kids, and this is evident here, with most, if not all, jokes landing well. One of the best ongoing bits throughout the entire film is Troy (Jimmy Tatro)’s entire character, who continues to get typecast in this role and continues to knock it out of the park. Troy’s character is fleshed out while still being the clueless theater camp virgin, delivering laughs through his disregard for the traditions and dynamics between these characters and their environment. Additionally, Noah Galvin’s stage manager Glenn is truly phenomenal, with Galvin stepping up to a big challenge and knocking it out of the park. The rest of the adult ensemble has great chemistry and standout scenes, with the notable entries being Ben Platt, in what may be his best role to date, and Molly Gordon, who crush it comedically. That said, the people who bring some of the best and most consistent laughs throughout the film are the child actors, who perfectly embody the different people you’ll encounter at theater camps across the world, but could’ve used more distinct personalities for each person. The best part of its large ensemble is that, at times, any performer can be a scene-stealing standout through improvised comedy and humanized likability.

The cast of Theater Camp. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2023 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.

The satirical nature of the film is one of its best qualities, giving it more mainstream appeal and qualities likened to films like Popstar: Never Stop Stopping while feeling reminiscent of Waiting for Guffman and Wet Hot American Summer. The film is more-or-less a collection of every joke about theater kids ever and is the theatrical embodiment of the obnoxious performers that we all knew and loved while growing up. The film has a strong, distinct style while feeling off-the-cuff and light. Theater Camp packs a lot of fun and heart into its brief but well-used 94-minute runtime, allowing viewers to laugh, to cry, to care.