REVIEW: Julie and the Phantoms (2020)
Julie and the Phantoms (2020) is a heart-warming Netflix show, with light humour and catchy tunes that will make you tap your toes to the beat in every episode. Being reminiscent of the High School Musical era, it is not surprising that it hails from the same creators, Kenny Ortega (Director) and David Lawrence (Composer), who reteamed for this supernatural musical series based on the Brazilian hit Julie e os Fantasamos. The result is this easy-to-watch and entertaining, but somewhat familiar series, designed to capture the hearts of teenagers with pop-rock songs and the usual tropes of floppy-haired male protagonists with goofy personalities.
Newcomer Madison Reyes plays the titular character Julie, a high school student in Los Angeles who can no longer perform music after her mother’s death and is about to be dismissed from her school’s competitive music programme. Returning home, hopeless and dejected, her father sends her to clear her mother’s belongings out of her garage-turned-studio; she puts on an old CD as she works and inadvertently summons the spirits of three teenagers from the ‘90s. They are Luke (Charlie Gillespie), Reggie (Jeremy Shada), and Alex (Owen Joyner) of the once upcoming band Sunset Curve who reached an untimely end after eating spoiled hot dogs. They were survived by their fourth band mate, Bobby, who had chosen not to join them on that fateful day.
This forms the premise of the story: four incredibly talented musicians working together to reach their dreams in a wholesome, generally funny, and sometimes tear-jerking plot. All of the teenagers depicted in this show are picture perfect role models. They are polite, sympathetic, and almost too clear-skinned to be real, portraying loving sibling relationships, a sympathetic antagonist, and the mutually supportive friendship dynamics of a group of seventeen-year-old boys.
Amid the hectic onslaught of mental health-damaging social media, exam preparation, and COVID-19-related stress that is continuing to plague 2021 and has left many uncertain about their futures, Julie and the Phantoms harks back to a simpler time that offers a welcome reprieve. However, it is not beyond criticism. The characters regularly discuss how they are better writers because they have come together; however, we never really see the work, effort, or creative process involved in their song-writing—only the finished product. Their creative bond and musical chemistry are merely used as supporting evidence for their romantic attraction.
In addition, the script does very little with the phantoms being from 1995. Julie mentions Google, texting, smartphones and all other kinds of modern invention and they never bat an eyelid, only questioning Justin Bieber and the Star Wars prequels, as well as the word ‘woke,’ which makes for some amusing moments. Nevertheless, these scenes also demonstrate how much better the show might have been had the writers taken advantage of the creative possibilities of being undead.
Ultimately, it is an easy-watch series with light-hearted ‘Scooby-Doo’-style energy that works well, with enough ghoulish pranks and catchy pop songs to leave viewers eager for more.
Star Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Summary: Prepare to enter the afterlife like you have never seen—or heard—it before. Julie and the Phantoms is Netflix’s latest bingeable comedy-drama with a musical twist that will appeal to teenagers and adults alike.
Article tags: | intersectionality | COVID-19 |
Prepare to enter the afterlife like you have never seen—or heard—it before. Julie and the Phantoms is Netflix’s latest bingeable comedy-drama with a musical twist that will appeal to teenagers and adults alike. Image Source: Julie and the Phantoms / Netflix
Amid the hectic onslaught of mental health-damaging social media, exam preparation, and COVID-19-related stress that is continuing to plague 2021 and has left many uncertain about their futures, Julie and the Phantoms harks back to a simpler time that offers a welcome reprieve. Image Source: Julie and the Phantoms / Netflix
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