“You look like you ate Sabrina Carpenter.”
As the great singer-songwriter Taylor Swift once sang, “I think I’ve seen this film before … and I didn’t like the ending.” So true is the sentiment when it comes to Rebel Wilson’s newest movie, “Girl Group,” the audacious ensemble flick that premiered Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival. Wilson’s sophomore directorial effort after 2024’s TIFF entry “The Deb,” this newest female-forward flick follows a ragtag group of girls, led by frontwoman Wilson, as they try to defy the odds and chase friendship and superstardom.
Wilson stars as Tassie Young, a former 90s/2000s pop star gone solo, forced to confront her bad choices after a DUI lands her in community service. After being replaced in the reunion tour of Gurlfriends, the girl group she once belonged to, Tassie is assigned to mentor a group of aspiring teenage singers as part of court-ordered community service. Amid generational differences and clashing music tastes, they discover that what doesn’t kill them might just make them stronger. The ensemble takes center stage as Tassie and company try their best to make this new girl group gel just in time for a record label competition that could change all of their lives.
It feels a lot like Netflix’s “Girls5Eva,” though that’s an unfair comparison, seeing as that series is hilarious and this movie is downright underwhelming. Chalk it up to the fact that Wilson thrusts herself onto the screen at every available opportunity despite the ensemble nature of the plot. Or maybe her script and filmmaking style never connect in a way that makes the movie memorable, despite its heavy bent toward nostalgia.
The crux of “Girl Group” isn’t as much of a performance piece for Wilson or the talented group of young girls occupying the screen. It seems that the filmmaker and star is hell-bent on making sure all eyes and audience attention are on her at every moment … even when she isn’t in a scene. Tassie looms large with some of Wilson’s trademark character behaviors, tantrums and unfunny quips that once defined her acting abilities but now feel outdated.
The early 2000s and references to the era are a focal point that, with a better filmmaker or screenplay, might be a nice nostalgia trip. But seeing as Wilson has confronted this decade before in the disastrous “Senior Year,” it might be time for her to find a new era to showcase. A rival girl group led by “Derry Girls” alum Jamie-Lee O’Donnell sets the stage for an epic “Pitch Perfect”-esque showdown … if not for the fact that that film’s title is literally referenced in this film as if Wilson herself wants audiences to remember her good days on the screen.
The saving grace of “Girl Group” is the celebrity cameos and featured players littered throughout, including Melanie C of Spice Girls fame, Randall Park as the center’s head and Tassie’s love interest (though their dynamic is never fully fleshed out), Nicole Scherzinger as Tassie’s Gurlfriends replacement, the always funny Jennifer Coolidge as Gurlfriends’ manager and Sally Hawkins as Tassie’s former music teacher. Having Live Nation as a producer on the film doesn’t hurt much, as Tassie’s Young Protégés (yes, that is the new girl group’s name) cover some great artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Destiny’s Child.
In the end, “Girl Group” aims to be a crowd-pleaser and almost sticks the landing with some heartwarming moments between the young girls at the center of the action. Though it’s at times a fun romp with some stylistic dancing and singing, bad jokes and force-fed nostalgia cloud the premise, which is supposed to be about female empowerment and music.
Wilson seems to be trying to capture the magic she brought to films like “Pitch Perfect,” and though it would be such a delight to see that happen again, that unique flair simply doesn’t show up here.
