Rah! Rah! Rhythm: High school drama without the actual drama

Is this worth your time?

If you like your movies light, loud, and full of people who talk like they are reading off a telegraph, you might get a kick out of Rah! Rah! Rhythm. It is perfect for a rainy afternoon when your brain needs to completely turn off. But if you have zero patience for manufactured rivalries or characters who treat every hallway like a Broadway stage, steer clear. It is basically a headache with better choreography.

The whole thing feels like a fever dream from a high school that only exists in black and white films. Pat and Herman are at each other's throats for Grace, but their "rivalry" is mostly just them trying to out-tap the other guy until someone falls over. It is honestly exhausting to watch.

There is this one moment where they start arguing in the middle of a school corridor, and it feels like they are just waiting for a musical cue that never quite arrives. The dialogue is snappy in that way that feels like it was written by someone who had never actually heard teenagers talk to each other before. So many zingers. Nobody actually speaks in sentences longer than five words.

It is definitely more frantic than Alias Mary Dow, which had at least a little bit of weight to it. This just feels like a sugar rush. You almost expect the actors to start vibrating right out of the frame.

The good and the weird:

• Grace McDonald is doing a lot of heavy lifting here just by standing there looking unbothered by these two goofs.
• The dancing is actually pretty snappy, even if it is just a distraction from the lack of a real plot.
• There is a distinct lack of background noise in the school scenes. It is like the rest of the student body evaporated.
• Tim Herbert has this way of blinking that makes him look like he is constantly trying to remember if he left the stove on.

By the time they get to the school show, the movie stops pretending it cares about the story entirely. It is just wall-to-wall performance. It is a bit like watching Gus Visser and His Singing Duck—eventually, you just stop asking why and accept that the duck is there. Or in this case, the tap shoes.

It is not a masterpiece. It is barely a movie. But it is weirdly watchable if you just lean into the silliness. Don't look for depth. Just look for the feet. 👞✨