If you thought that Riverdale and the multiple Pretty Little Liars spinoffs were enough to fill the teen murder-sized hole in your heart, do I have news for you. Netflix's new thriller-ballet series (yes you read that right), Tiny Pretty Things, is giving off the most PLL vibes, and there's now a trailer to prove it.
The twist (because there has to be a twist): It all takes place at a prestigious dance academy that young performers would (probably, based on the trailer) kill to attend. Add in some ballerina secrets, racial politics, a haunting music box score, did I mention dancing, and consider your end-of-year-binge confirmed.
The Tiny Pretty Things trailer starts, like PLL, with the murder of a young blonde, Cassie Shore. (Unlike PLL, this victim fell off a four-story building, so, it looks like she's actually dead... I think.) Unfortunate for her, but a lucky break for Neveah — a black dancer previously rejected by the prestigious Archer School of Ballet — who gets Cassie's spot at the academy and is whisked away to Chicago to start a new life among the privileged and cutthroat. (You can tell just how big of a deal this is based on the fact that her teacher simply needs to say, "Chicago called," to let her know she's in.)
Of course, as with any good YA murder mystery (the show is based on a book by the same name), Tiny Pretty Things is full of potential suspects, which the trailer wastes no time getting into, and neither shall I.
First, there's Nabil, a quiet dancer who is literally accused of pushing Cassie off the roof. Probably too obvious of a choice based on that bold claim alone (though if The Undoing has taught us anything...).
There is also Bette, the blonde mean girl who swiftly crafts this burn towards Neveah in the trailer: "This isn't your world, little rat. Knowing the steps doesn't mean you belong."
I hate her already. But if this killer is the serial kind, my guess is she could be next.
Then there's the teachers, who definitely could be stone-cold murderers based on one of them (Madame Monique Dubois) describing Cassie's murder as "one star student suffered a fateful misstep." A "fateful misstep" off a roof.
Don't sleep on the choreographer, either, who throws a fit when Neveah messes up a dance, throwing something at her and shattering the mirror behind her. (As if that wasn't enough to put this dude high up on the suspect list, it also looks like he might be having an affair with Monique. Which begs the question... who else might he have been sleeping with?)
Actor Lauren Holly, who stars as Monique, confirmed that the adult characters would definitely be involved in all the drama. She told PopCulture.com that Tiny Pretty Things will be full of "naughty relationships." She added, "It's sex and suspense and backstabbing and surprises." Oh my!
So, yes, Tiny Pretty Things is definitely going to be your juicy Netflix fave when it premieres on Dec. 14. But, more than that, it'll also shine a real spotlight on the ballet world, starting with the actors. All of the student dancers are, well, actual dancers — no Julia Stiles in Save The Last Dance here — which mans all the dance sequences are sure to be gorgeous, even if they do end in murder.
Image: Netflix