Junior review
By Joel Humphries · Watched 07.22.25
★★½ 2.5 / 5
Spoiler-free review
Junior spends its first half coasting on Kireeti’s smile, dancing and natural charisma, then abruptly asks that charm to carry a more traditional family drama about an independent son accepting responsibility for his sister and long-suffering father. By the time the serious material arrived, I found myself appreciating the earlier singing and dancing more than the attempted emotional weight. The strands come together effectively at the end, and the songs are decent, but the tonal shift makes two incomplete movies compete for the same protagonist. Kireeti’s dancing is the one element that never loses confidence.
Full review — contains spoilers
For the entire first half of the film pre-intermission the movie floats by on the young lead's personal charisma. Just as that was starting to get tiresome, the entire tone of the movie changes and becomes more of a traditional piece about an independent young son taking on family responsibility in trying to protect his sister and show proper respect to his long suffering father. After watching the second half I feel like I enjoyed the first half more when it was just smiling and dancing. I did appreciate the ending when the various strands come together.
The songs are decent and Kireeti's dancing is excellent.