Film

Hairspray

Name: Hairspray
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Drama
Released: 2007
Cast: Nikki Blonsky, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Amanda Bynes

Other titles called Hairspray: the 1988 film.

Stage-musical adaptation

A candy-colored, sunnily political musical about a big girl who refuses to shrink herself and a segregated dance show she insists on integrating. It's loud, joyful, deliberately garish, and never pretends the fun is separate from the politics. Great for anyone who wants their feel-good musical to actually stand for something, sung at full volume.

TMDb rating

3.3

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love musicals that wear their heart on their sleeve, with bright, brassy numbers, big comic performances and a sweetness that carries a sharp point about prejudice.

Skip it if you find cheerful, sugary musicals wearing thin, or you want a lean film; its bounce is constant and its running time is a full two hours of exuberant song and dance.

What it asks of you: It asks you to surrender to its energy from the first number, accepting broad caricature and loud colour, and to let a light, cheerful mood carry you through a fairly long stretch.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Grease1978

The template Hairspray is riffing on: teens, cars, hair, a school dance show as social battleground, and songs you already know the words to whether you want to or not.

But Its gender politics have aged badly, and it has nothing like Hairspray's interest in race or bodies.

Chicago2002

Another stage-to-screen musical that uses razzle-dazzle to needle at something darker — fame, media, corruption — proving showbiz gloss and social bite aren't opposites.

But Cynical where Hairspray is warm; if you want a hug at the end, this isn't it.

Mamma Mia!2008

Same shameless, full-body commitment to joy, same jukebox-bright colour palette, same refusal to be embarrassed about wanting you to have a good time.

But All sugar, no social conscience — it's not trying to say anything, and doesn't pretend to.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Hairspray

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Raisin in the Sun1961

Same historical moment and the same core demand — to be let in, to be treated as equal — but told straight, without a single dance number to soften it.

A landmark drama about a Black family fighting for dignity and a decent home in the same America Hairspray sets its dance numbers in — no songs, just the real weight of the thing.

But Slow, stage-bound, and quietly devastating rather than uplifting — a real gear change from candy-colored musical comedy.

Dreamgirls2006

A musical that actually centres Black performers and the industry that exploited them, with the vocal firepower to match Hairspray's ambitions about music and race.

But Considerably heavier and more melodramatic; the fun is there but it's earned through real heartbreak.

The Prom2020

A splashy modern musical about outsiders storming an institution that wants to exclude them, with the same big, unembarrassed belief that a show tune can change minds.

But Broader and more schmaltzy, with a starrier, more self-aware cast that some find grating.

Sister Act1992

An outsider crashes a closed, judgmental institution and wins it over through music and sheer personality — pure comfort-food underdog joy with a great soundtrack.

But No real stakes beyond comedy; it's not interested in saying anything about the world.

Pitch Perfect2012

If you want the ensemble-underdog-competition structure and the body-positive comic energy without the period setting or the politics, this scratches the same itch.

But Snarkier and shallower — funny, catchy, but with none of Hairspray's earnest heart.

Footloose1984

Another town, another dance, another teenager fighting the adults who want to control young bodies and shut down the music — the rebellion is different but the shape is familiar.

But Dated in a straighter, less colourful way; the politics are about repression, not race.

Legally Blonde2001

A heroine everyone underestimates because of how she looks, who wins by refusing to change herself — same defiant, sunny spirit as Tracy Turnblad, minus the songs.

But No music, no dancing, and a much narrower target (elitism, not segregation).

Wattstax1973

Hairspray imagines integration through a fictional dance show; this is the actual music and joy of a real Black community, filmed rather than choreographed.

A concert documentary capturing Black Los Angeles through music, comedy and community in the aftermath of the Watts riots — the real texture behind the fictional dance-show plot.

But No plot, no stars you'll recognize, and a much rawer, less polished energy than a studio musical.

Cry-Baby1990

Same creative bloodline and same fascination with 1950s teen dance culture, but stripped of Hollywood polish and social uplift — the punk, filthier ancestor of the story you just watched cleaned up.

John Waters — the director who made the original Hairspray decades before this remake — made this gleefully trashy teen musical parody, full of the same 1950s dance-craze energy but dialed up to absurd.

But Much cruder and campier, closer to a cult joke than a crowd-pleaser; it wants to shock, not warm you.