Julie and the Phantoms Review

Looking for a musical experience complete with ghostly apparitions? Netflix can deliver! The latest series in the Netflix library is Julie and the Phantoms. It’s a family comedy show about a teenage girl and her three otherworldly friends.

SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD:

The story of Julie and the Phantoms follows drummer Alex, bassist Reggie, and guitarist/lead singer Luke. They are three members of the band Sunset Curve, a rising band in 1995. Just as they’re set to premiere on the legendary Orpheum Theater stage, a few questionable hot dogs take the boys out of the running – forever. Cut to 25 years down the road and we meet Julie. She’s an ultra-talented teenage musician struggling with the pain of losing her inspirational mother.

KAILEY SCHWERMAN/NETFLIX © 2020

Julie and the Phantoms brings together Julie, Luke, Reggie, and Alex as a bit of a misfit band with immense talent. We get to see how their relationship grows from totally freaked out to devoted friends. Luke, Reggie, and Alex have to figure out where and what they as well as why they’ve suddenly had a second chance to play their music again. Their realizations and mishaps as newly minted ghosts give us many humorous moments and unlike quite a few teen comedies – the jokes are funny.

Music is, of course, a highlight of Julie and the Phantoms and certainly delivers. From choreographed dances to soft ballads, to heart-pumping rock-outs, Julie and the Phantoms has top-notch songs. The music also displays the incredible talent of actors Madison Reyes (Julie), Charlie Gillespie (Luke), Jeremy Shada (Reggie), and Owen Joyner (Alex) who all have impressive singing voices and play their own instruments. Madison Reyes especially blows every performance out of the water and wows us with her powerful voice.

In Julie and the Phantoms, our three friends Luke, Reggie, and Alex are not visible to any other living being besides Julie. Through a strange loophole though they discover they can blip into view whenever they play. And for a few blissful minutes they’re doing what they love. That is, until the song ends and they once more fade away. Julie and the Phantoms brings together these musicians who want nothing more than to do what they love but can’t. Whether it’s Julie who lost her voice and her confidence after mother died or the phantoms who don’t exist on a physical plane.

KAILEY SCHWERMAN/NETFLIX © 2020

The latest series in the Netflix library is Julie and the Phantoms

Julie and the Phantoms reaches far into some emotional depths from Alex’s budding romance with another ghost, Wille. Or even Luke’s grief at never getting the chance to mend his relationship with his parents before his death. Julie also works through the pain of her mother’s death alongside her loving and supportive family. The biggest triumph of this series however is the chemistry which exudes from Julie and her three phantoms. When they’re goofing around in Julie’s studio, they’re entertaining, and when they’re singing on stage – they’re electric.

Be sure to check out the premiere of the nine-episode series Julie and the Phantoms on Netflix, September 10th.

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