I'm so surprised and impressed. Juliet Doherty is heavenly, her dances were breathtaking and has such stage presence. Teenage grief is a hard on to portray without being stereotypical or over the top, but Juliet's resolve balanced it out with subtle honesty. Haven't been this pleasantly surprised by a movie in a long time. The dance-centric take was giving Center Stage flashbacks maybe with less edge, but all heart and skill. That final piece was something else! Harlow's whiplash disposition may be a bit too jarring, and Aussie boy was a bit cheesy, but other than that, a wonderful ballet movie ?.

Finally, a dance film made in Australia that's entertaining and executed very well. The lead actress Julie Doherty does a fine job balancing her dancing and acting as well as most of the cast including rising star Lauren Esposito. Overall, the choreo of the dance is exceptional and the story is engaging. The music is very good and its photography is also very good. Recommended for a good watch.

Overall the film is good, it's not a perfect film, it lacks in strong compelling storytelling but it makes up in being entertaining. It' misses the emotional beat and tries too hard to evoke that in a contrived manner. There isn't many layers to the main character she passes but doesn't show that many layers of emotions. The sidekick friend is also a great character but exposes herself when she tries to overact when yelling at her friend. I found it confusing if the film was meant to be American and shot in Australia? The accents were all American except for the English dance teacher and one other male friend. The dance teacher's performance by far was exceptional and the best of all the actors, a seasoned actor who knew her role. Another let down was the lighting, it may be argued that some of the dance scenes were shot to be dark and artistic, but If I cannot see the body of the dancer, then I don't care to watch, it was too dark that it was obvious it was underexposed. Also the color grading was not the right choice for this film - it didn't match the tone of the film. It was also 20-30 minutes too long, the story lingered and never really pushed one story idea. It was a great effort overall and many female teens or female girls and dance moms will enjoy this.