Jamilah (Megalyn Echikunwoke) is on the right track to getting a place at Harvard Law School. She is the President of her sorority Theta Chi Phi, captain of their Step team and works closely with the college Dean.
However when her parents pull their alumni endorsement, Jamilah has to result to alternatives to securing her place at Harvard. The Dean promises his endorsement if Jamilah helps to change the image of party girl sorority Sigma Beta Beta by teaching them to Step in time at a charity Step event.
The girls are about as thrilled as competing as Jamilah is about teaching them but sisterhood is forged in the toughest of times.
They’ll be stepping on some toes on their journey, but these girls will have to step out of their comfort zone, step up to the plate and taking a step in the right direction if they want to make it out on the other side with their boots intact.
Step Sisters was cheesy, formulaic and predicable – exactly what it was supposed to be and the reason most people would click to watch it in the first place…
Well that and the pretty impressive team behind it – from the Director of Drumline, the Choreographer of Pitch Perfect, the Producers of Straight Outta Compton and Dear White People – which personally pushed me over the edge to press play.
However within the fluff was a not so sweet racial center. Words like cultural appropriation and regressive are being thrown around the internet in regards to the movie and the racial subjects it touches upon, but it seems as though these commenters have cast their judgement in haste.
The movie doesn’t shy away from the issues it dredges up but faces them head on within the narrative. Yes at times the juxtaposition of racial conflicts within a dance comedy movie felt a little odd, and at times I dare say cringy, but is there a tried and tested way to highlight topical affairs?
Whatever spreads the word about matters that are only now being openly discussed in film and television should be a good thing. And based on the genre of Step Sisters, they handled the subject in the most tonally appropriate way.
So.
If you’re looking for a movie for a girls (or boys) night in, that also isn’t afraid to be a little conversational about current affairs and stars How to Get Away with Murder’s Matt McGorry then step right up.
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