Set against the backstage storm of a bustling ballet company, this ensemble drama follows a single season of rehearsals and performances at the Joffrey Ballet, guided by a director who is as warm as he is exacting. Alberto Antonelli, the company’s artistic leader, steers the troupe through the demanding discipline of training, the inevitability of injuries, the juggling act of schedules, and the financial pressures that come with staging bold new works. Across the season, the film sketches a world where ambition, artistry, and personal life constantly collide, and where every rehearsal room moment can feel like a turning point for those chasing a dream on stage.
At the center of the company’s story is Loretta 'Ry' Ryan, a talented dancer who steadily earns more prominent roles as she proves herself in arduous rehearsals. Her ascent happens even as she wrestles with the social dynamics of the group; tensions flare as some colleagues struggle to integrate, and one dancer even requests removal from a number after his relationship with Ry ends acrimoniously. The narrative brushes close to the fragility of cohesion within a tightly knit troupe, showing how success for one can echo through the entire company.
Ry’s life beyond the studio is equally layered. Like many of the younger dancers, she juggles a second job to make ends meet, waitress work at a chic bar that becomes a hotspot for late-night conversations and confiding conversations about the balance between art and practicality. Against her mother’s objections, Ry’s nights out and late shifts intersect with her budding career, a reminder that the road to stardom often runs through ordinary, everyday moments. It’s there she meets Josh Williams, a young chef climbing the ladder in a kitchen where pressure runs high and mistakes are costly. Their relationship blossoms after a memorable scene in which Ry is seen seductively playing pool to Elvis Costello’s rendition of My Funny Valentine, a motif that threads itself through the film and returns as a resonant refrain.
A major thread of the season centers on a new work by Robert Desrosiers inspired by Hindu mythology, a bold project the company agrees to stage under Antonelli’s careful eye. The piece they pursue is called Blue Snake, a demanding and visually striking work that Desrosiers had choreographed years earlier with another company. The directors quickly identify Ry as the featured female dancer for this ambitious production after she captivates them during a spontaneous moment: she dances Lubovitch’s My Funny Valentine outside in a thunderstorm, a scene that cements her as the one to watch. The rehearsal process for Blue Snake proves grueling, with intricate timing, demanding partnering, and the sheer physical strain of the role. The pressures of the new work spill into Ry’s personal life as the marathon pace of rehearsals makes it hard to keep up with dinners or dates with Josh.
Between the intensive preparations for Blue Snake, the company stages and rehearses a variety of pieces that showcase the breadth of the troupe’s technique. One memorable number unfolds on a swing set to Julee Cruise’s haunting track, The World Spins, a moment that captures the playful risk and the cinematic mood of the season. To release tension and build camaraderie, the dancers host an informal Christmas Eve roast night, an affectionate lampooning of the intense personalities of Antonelli and Desrosiers that offers the company a moment of levity amid the relentless schedule.
The long-awaited premiere of Blue Snake arrives at the Kennedy Center, a formal setting befitting the scale of the production. The performance is a triumph in many respects, even as Ry sustains an arm injury toward the end of her solo, forcing Desrosiers to improvise and adapt until another dancer can be fitted into her elaborate costume. The show’s success is undeniable, and amid the applause, Josh makes a quiet, personal gesture—having already been injured in a kitchen accident, he sneaks onto the stage during the bows to congratulate Ry. The two share a private moment of celebration as the main curtain falls, a quiet close to a season that tested the limits of artistry and endurance.
The film is anchored by a notable ensemble, with performances by its cast bringing depth to each facet of the story. The film features performances by James Franco, Malcolm McDowell, and Neve Campbell, whose presence adds another layer to the tapestry of ambition, mentorship, and longing that defines the company’s year.
