Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman direct Theater Camp, a fun comedy about a summer theater camp after a tech bro (Jimmy Tatro) inherits the business and tries to manage the eccentric characters. Ben Platt and Molly Gordon play two of the teachers, and most of the plot occupies itself with inter-teacher squabbles, as they take the camp too seriously.
The film is wise to target most of its satirical barbs at the teachers who believe that a summer theater camp is their personal ticket to stardom or artistic relevance and personal expression. The young characters and the young actors playing the kids are largely just there to have fun, so the film keeps a light-hearted and delightful vibe even as the adults become overwrought.
There is a sense in which some of Theater Camp is too “inside baseball.” Just as a new or casual baseball fan’s eyes might gloss over when someone mentions BABIP or any other overly specific statistic, there are people who haven’t been to theater camp or have limited exposure to theater people who might find the film too ridiculous or simply unengaging. Others may find it a little mean-spirited, as the adult characters lack enough self-awareness to understand how their actions affect the kids at the camp.
The plot and character choices during the second act and toward the end of the film unfold predictably. When the camp’s existence is threatened and can be saved by the last show of the season, most audiences will know exactly where the film is heading.
What Theater Camp amounts to is a group of theater kids who grew up and made a movie that says, “This is what theater camps are. This is why we love them. This is why they’re super weird sometimes. Take it for all it is, theater camps are ultimately a net good.” And in the limited capacity for which this film exists, it succeeds.
