Film
Showboat
- Musical
- Light-hearted
A jaded indie singer joins a cruise ship full of performers and learns that entertaining people—glitter, big laughs, the whole thing—isn't beneath her. It's a comedy about letting joy back in after you've decided you're too cool for it. For anyone who's ever been insufferable about their own taste and lived to regret it.
If you liked this
Mamma Mia!2008
Pure, unironic joy. A woman gathers her three possible dads on a Greek island and everyone sings ABBA. It commits so hard to its own silliness that resistance becomes impossible.
But If you don't like musical numbers or Meryl Streep having fun, this will feel like punishment.
Boat Trip2002
A cruise comedy that leans into absurdity without apology. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Horatio Sanz in peak broad-comedy territory—ridiculous, confident, and genuinely funny in spite of itself.
But The humour is deliberately lowbrow and at times offensive. It's not trying to be smart, which won't work if that bothers you.
The Poseidon Adventure1972
The grandfather of disaster films: a ship capsizes during New Year's Eve and an ensemble cast scrambles upward. It's got spectacle, panic, and real stakes. Reverend Gene Hackman is unforgettable.
But It's long, occasionally slow, and the special effects are now visibly vintage. The tone is more catastrophe than comedy.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Showboat
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Take This Waltz2011
Both films wrestle with the gap between who we think we should be and who we actually are. Showboat's protagonist learns to embrace joy she's been rejecting; Polley's heroine struggles with wanting to be someone other than who she is. Same architecture, opposite direction.
A woman in a quiet marriage meets an attractive man and spirals into indecision. Sarah Polley's film looks like a musical in form—rhythmic, full of colour, dance, and singing strangers—but it's about the paralysis of choice and the lie of the perfect moment.
But It's slow and internal. The narrative doesn't build conventionally; it sits with feeling instead of plot. Some find it pretentious or insufferably twee.
More like this (8)
Noises Off...1992
A backstage farce about a theatre troupe falling apart. Three acts from different angles show you the performance, the chaos behind it, and the reverse angle. Brilliantly constructed and perpetually funny.
But The humour is entirely physical and theatrical—if slapstick doesn't land for you, you'll feel like you're watching an inside joke.
The Producers1968
Two men try to produce the worst musical ever so they can profit when it closes. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder are magnetic. It's a film that loves theatre and doesn't take itself seriously.
But Some of the satire is dated. The pacing stutters in the second act and the ending is abrupt.
Hairspray2007
A plus-size girl in 1962 Baltimore fights racism and ageism through dance and music. It's earnest, joyful, and surprisingly heartfelt underneath the sparkle and big numbers.
But It's aggressively cheerful and the message is obvious. If you're tired of films that wear their wholesomeness like a badge, this might feel saccharine.
Singin' in the Rain1952
Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds navigate Hollywood's transition to sound. The dancing is virtuosic, the comedy is sharp, and it's fundamentally about the joy of performance.
But It's old enough that the pacing feels slow by modern standards. Some viewers find the tone inconsistently tonal.
Legally Blonde2001
Elle Woods gets into Harvard Law School and discovers she's smarter and kinder than everyone assumed. It's a vindication fantasy wrapped in hot pink and genuine warmth.
But The film's feminism is surface-level. If you're looking for real interrogation of gender roles, you'll find mostly sparkly lip service.
Pennies from Heaven1981
Steve Martin as a sheet-music salesman in the Depression who imagines his life as a musical. Surreal, melancholic, and surprisingly ambitious for what sounds like a simple concept.
But It's genuinely bleak underneath the fantasy sequences. The tonal whiplash between depression-era reality and fantasy musical numbers won't appeal to everyone.
Schtonk!1992
Both are films about people learning to stop performing the version of themselves they think they should be—though Schtonk's characters keep performing anyway and get eaten alive for it. One finds liberation in sequins; the other finds catastrophe in self-deception.
A brilliant German satire about the 1983 faked Hitler diaries. It's genuinely hilarious, formally inventive, and gleefully absurdist. Greed, ego, and media stupidity never looked so entertaining.
But It's subtitled, and the humour is specifically German and specifically about a scandal most English-language viewers won't know. The satire can feel opaque without context.
The Phantom of the Opera1925
Both films are about the theatre itself—the machinery of performance, the gap between the public show and private feeling. Showboat celebrates that machinery; Phantom interrogates the madness underneath it. They're in conversation about what theatre costs.
Lon Chaney's silent masterpiece about obsession and art. The production design is staggering, the story is genuinely eerie, and Chaney's performance under that makeup is heartbreaking. This is opera as gothic romance, not as punchline.
But It's silent, melodramatic, and very long. If you can't commit to silent-film pacing, you'll be frustrated. The horror is theatrical rather than visceral.
People
Directing
- Nahnatchka KhanDirector
Writing
- Billy FinneganScreenplay
- Nahnatchka KhanScreenplay
- Logan HillStory
Production
- Logan HillExecutive Producer
Recommended by
High, Wide and Handsome, The Firefly, Riverboat, The Cuban Love Song