The senior class of 2020 may have been forced to forgo their typical prom celebrations because of the pandemic, but the spirit of prom night lives on in Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix project, The Prom. And the special event teased in The Prom’s first full-length trailer promises to be light years better than mine and probably yours because it features Meryl Streep.
The Prom welcomes fans (and Broadway enthusiasts) to a high school small conservative Indiana town eagerly preparing for the senior prom. Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) is among the excited students, but her dreams of attending the dance with her girlfriend Alyssa (Arianna DeBose) are dashed when the PTA bans same sex couples from going to prom together. Devastated but not derailed, Emma decides to fight against the school policy. Fresh off playing a passionate mother in Little Fires Everywhere, Kerry Washington plays Alyssa's mom and the head of the school's PTA.
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States away in New York City, washed up Broadway actors Dee Dee (Streep) and Barry (James Corden) hear of the situation in Edgewater and decide to lend a hand. The intentions aren't purely pure here — aiding Emma is a good press opportunity, especially after their latest Broadway production flops massively — but they manage to rope in fellow stars Angie (Nicole Kidman) and Trent (Andrew Rannells) into their shenanigans. Once they get to Indiana, the quartet helps Emma and the rest of the student body get into the spirit of prom.
The upcoming film is an adaptation of the famous Broadway musical of the same name, which was nominated for seven Tony Awards a year after its 2018 Broadway debut. It's based on a true story, too. In 2011, Mississippi high school senior Constance McMillen sued the Itawamba County School District for canceling prom as an attempt to avoid letting her attend the event with her girlfriend. With the help of the ACLU and a number of celebrities speaking out against the clear discrimination, McMillen received a personal payment for damages, and her district adopted a sexual orientation non-discrimination policy.
Of course, The Prom puts a little pizzazz on the story, injecting it with glitter, singing, and Streep. The Oscar-winner and the rest of her Broadway squad will be joined by Keegan-Michael Key, Tracey Ullman, Kevin Chamberlin, Mary Kay Place, Logan Riley, Nico Greetham, Sofia Deler, and Nathaniel J. Potvin.
Sure, you may have missed the prom this year — slow dancing to Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande's prom playlist in your living room just doesn't hit the same as the real thing— but you can live vicariously through the teens of Edgewater, Indiana. Prom season isn't over just yet!
The Prom will be available in select theatres and for streaming on Netflix on December 11.