Parents' Guide to

Sneakerella

By Jennifer Green, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

NYC Cinderella musical has diverse cast, positive messages.

Movie NR 2022 111 minutes
Sneakerella Movie Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 10+

Based on 6 parent reviews

age 12+

Very scary and sad montage upset my kid and triggered fears about parent mortality

The movie was good, but my 10 year old was very upset by one montage, which I want to warn other parents about. The montage takes place when El is cleaning up a large closet that his step brothers have caused to be very messy just to be mean. The montage, which goes on for a longer time than most montages, is a flashback that shows the mother of El getting ill, and El being abandoned as a young child when the mother was presumably going to the hospital to die. My 10 year old was extremely upset, turned off the movie, cried, and could not fall asleep for a very long time. After falling asleep, she woke up again in the middle of the night crying. The scene triggered thoughts about parent mortality. Obviously, we knew about the Cinderella background and the fact that the parent dies - we have seen countless versions of Cinderella. However, this montage was particularly pointed and made for tears. Had I known about this, I would have fast forward through the montage or possibly not had my kid watch the movie.
6 people found this helpful.
age 18+
This movie is very goofy. It is very cool, especially the beginning. The ending of the movie is amazing. I hope your children like it too.
4 people found this helpful.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (6):
Kids say (4):

This gender-swapped Cinderella tale might feel a bit too sweet for teens, but its diverse cast, uplifting story, and genre-blending song-and-dance numbers are charmingly original and fun. Sneakerella is High School Musical meets In the Heights. The action takes place in a Disney-fied New York City (read: safe and tidy, with happy people singing and dancing on streets and subway trains). It brings the HSM aesthetic to Queens and Manhattan with a bit less humor and a bit more street cred (imagine Sharpay on the subway) but no more realism.

Some characters deserved more screen time, especially fairy godfather Gustavo and celebrity athlete Darius King, but it's entertaining to see the usual Cinderella roles occupied by the opposite genders. The young stars are talented and charismatic, especially lead Jacobs and the scene-stealing Nekoda as best friend Sami. Underwood is underused. Two highlights of the movie are a scheming number sung by the evil but dimwitted stepbrothers and a rap battle between El and King. In the first one, cartoon character shadows appear on the walls behind them. It's one of many uses of moving graphics and illustrations on top of the live-action scenes, and the whimsical concept plays off the sneaker theme.

Movie Details

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