Theater Camp (2023)

At a struggling theatre camp, the instructors treat the children's production as an artistic reckoning of national importance. Ben Platt and Molly Gordon make the adults' shared vocabulary and wounded pride particularly funny, while the backstage work gives their grandiosity a practical contrast. Theater Camp is the choice for affectionate institutional satire: it understands why this little world matters even as it enjoys the solemn language used to protect it. The documentary-style ensemble also gives capable children room to puncture adult importance.