Netflix’s Tiny Pretty Things is a ballet drama built on betrayal, and it never quite lands the blow. The show follows a star student’s replacement entering a world of lies, betrayal and cutthroat competition at an elite Chicago ballet school. It wants to be a tense, psychological thriller about ambition and cruelty. Mostly, it settles for a slow-moving soap opera about backstage drama.
Trailer, via Netflix.
The Setup
The show is based on the novel of the same name by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton. Created by Michael MacLennan, it premiered on Netflix on December 14, 2020. It ran for one season of ten episodes, airing all at once on that day.
The series centers on the school’s students, instructors, administrators and benefactors. The dancing is performed by the actors themselves, not doubles. That is a bold choice, and it mostly pays off.
The Cast
The ensemble is large and capable. Brennan Clost plays Shane, the replacement who stumbles into the school’s dark secrets. Barton Cowperthwaite plays Oren, and Bayardo De Murguia plays Ramon. Damon J. Gillespie plays Caleb Wick, and Kylie Jefferson plays Neveah. Casimere Jollette plays Bette, Anna Maiche plays Cassie Shore, and Daniela Norman plays June. Michael Rosen plays Nabil, and Tory Trowbridge plays Delia. Jess Salgueiro plays Isabel, and Lauren Holly plays Monique.
The casting was announced in stages. Lauren Holly, Kylie Jefferson, Casimere Jollette, Daniela Norman, Brennan Clost, Michael Hsu Rosen, Damon J. Gillespie, Bayardo De Murguia, Barton Cowperthwaite, Tory Trowbridge and Jess Salgueiro were cast as series regulars upon the order announcement. Anna Maiche joined the main cast on September 20, 2019. Emily Skubic, a professional ballet dancer, is set to make her debut guest role in the series on December 9, 2020.
The Weak Points
The pacing drags in the middle stretch. Episodes spend too much time on minor conflicts between dancers that never build anywhere. The show tries to keep several plots running at once — the star student’s fall, the replacement’s arrival, a rival company’s threat — but none of them get the room they need to matter.
The mystery element is thin. The show promises a revelation about the school’s past, but it arrives late and feels rushed. The audience spends ten episodes waiting for a payoff that never quite delivers the weight the setup promised.
The Strengths
The dancing is the real draw. When the camera stays on the stage, the show finds its footing. The actors’ technique is genuine, and the choreography holds up against other shows in the genre. The show also handles the pressure of performance with a quiet authenticity that sets it apart from similar teen dramas.
The writing leans heavily on stereotypes about ballet culture. The rich benefactors, the jealous instructors, the cruel judges — all of it is recognizable from years of television. The show rarely surprises, and it rarely digs beneath the surface of its characters.
Shane and Neveah
The show’s best moments come when it trusts its actors to play the emotional stakes. Clost carries much of the early tension as Shane, and the chemistry between his character and Neveah grounds the story in something human. The supporting cast gets less room to breathe, but they sell the drama when the script lets them.
The show also knows how to frame a rehearsal hall. Its shots of dancers moving across the floor have a rhythm that other shows in the genre often miss. It is a visual language the show uses well, even when the story beneath it falters.
The Verdict
Tiny Pretty Things is a show that understands its medium better than its own story. The dancing is sharp, the performances are committed, and the premise is genuinely interesting. But the plotting is loose, the mystery is thin, and the finale fails to deliver on the show’s own promises.
It is a show that fans of ballet drama will find worth watching for the craft, even if they walk away disappointed by the story. It is not a failure of execution, but a failure of ambition. The show reaches for a deeper look at the dance world and comes up short.
Season One Timeline
| Episode | Date |
|---|---|
| All 10 episodes | December 14, 2020 |
Key Dates
- Series order announced — regulars cast
- Anna Maiche joins main cast — September 20, 2019
- Emily Skubic joins guest cast — December 9, 2020
- Full season premiere — December 14, 2020
The Final Word
The show is worth watching for the dance sequences and the performances, but the story underneath cannot sustain a full season. It is a show that is best enjoyed in pieces, not taken as a whole. The ending leaves the door open, but the series was quietly cancelled by Netflix after failing to garner sufficient views in its first season, according to Brennan Clost. That decision makes sense.
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