Barely Lethal

"Click. Clique. Bang."

2015 1h 38m EN

😐

5.7

MID

★5.7TMDB · 1,133

ActionComedyAdventureRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A 16-year-old international assassin yearning for a "normal" adolescence fakes her own death and enrolls as a senior in a suburban high school. She quickly learns that being popular can be more painful than getting water-boarded.

“Click. Clique. Bang.”

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Cast

Hailee Steinfeld
83 / Megan Walsh
Sophie Turner
84 / Heather
Jessica Alba
Victoria Knox
Samuel L. Jackson
Hardman
Dove Cameron
Liz Larson
Thomas Mann
Roger Marcus
Gabriel Basso
Gooch
Emma Holzer
Donna

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kyle Newman
Writers: John D'Arco, Jenny Fine
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 6% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CAST

Did you know

539+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kyle Newman, shot by Peter Lyons Collister. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Mateo Messina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lisa Zeno Churgin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Hailee Steinfeld and Sophie Turner and Jessica Alba carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Click. Clique. Bang.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kyle Newman directs. Peter Lyons Collister behind the camera. Mateo Messina scores. Lisa Zeno Churgin cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 6% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 11 years ago.
3539+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
4Directed by Kyle Newman, shot by Peter Lyons Collister. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Mateo Messina. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Lisa Zeno Churgin shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Hailee Steinfeld and Sophie Turner and Jessica Alba carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Click. Clique. Bang.".
9IMDB entry: tt1731701 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Peter Lyons Collister
Original score: Mateo Messina
Editing: Lisa Zeno Churgin
Production design: Andrew Neskoromny
Costume design: Francine Jamison-Tanchuck
Makeup / hair: Andrea C. Brotherton
VFX supervisor: Ray McIntyre Jr.
Sound: Jason Gaya
Stunt coordinator: Jeff Habberstad
Runtime: 98 min · 1h 38m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $15,000,000
Box office: $933,847
Return: 6% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Barely Lethal (2015)

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Kyle Newman

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Dark Jedi2015-10-05
★ 6/10
This movie is absolutely ludicrous! The core of the story is simply unbelievable. However, this is movie meant to entertain and I dare say that the target audience is not exactly my age. This is clearly a teenage movie. Well, I guess that there is still a bit of a child in me because I found it rather entertaining even though, with a bit less “Hollywoodish” and more intelligent directing it could have been a lot better. I would say that this is a quite nice family movie. Well not for the really young of course due to the amount of action. Saying that this is a family movie is probably going to annoy a lot of people in the “bible belt” due to previously mentioned action as well as the fact that there is a bit of partying going on, including consumption of fermented and even distilled beverages on but hey, I am Swedish, when I was a kid, way too long ago, there was not a teenager around that had not tasted HB which is the Swedish term for “Hembränt” or in English home brewed alcohol. Anyway, unless you are a moral fanatic, there is really not much to be upset about in this movie apart from the laughably ludicrous story. Kids being trained as assassins from young age. Ehh, okay. Could have been half plausible if it was not for the “training” scenes in the beginning of the movie. Toddlers operating machine guns and driving cars like Vin Diesel? Okay, maybe they were just above toddler age but I was laughing so hard it was difficult to judge. What follows is pretty much without surprises (if you have read the blurb at least). Our heroin goes to school and, deprived of a normal childhood, finds it not so easy as she perhaps imagined. Here is where I feel there are a lot of missed opportunities. Our teenage assassin never really gets to truly impress. Sure, she gets to do a bit of clobbering but it is constantly hidden in a veil of ridicule. With a more intelligent script writer this could have been a really cool part but as it plays itself out it is just “okayishly” funny. Naturally a few bad guys arrive in order to crash the party and, well, we get a bit more of the same as before just with some more action. The action is not bad, for this kind of movie at least, that has to be said. Unfortunately the way it plays itself out is a wee bit disappointing. It is just unintelligent. The beginning of the movie seemed to hint that these teenagers were trained in all areas, including the grey cells, but certain scenes where just, “I cannot believe that you were that stupid”, and for the record I have a teenage son that made the same remarks! Nevertheless it was indeed a quite entertaining movie. Far from great but definitely worth watching.
Reno2017-05-16
★ 6/10
For some people, living a normal life is a challenge! Teen girl's film, but no usual romance-comedy. There are some small clichés, but being it is an action film, those parts looked kind of small. Yeah, nice casting. Hailee was really cool. The 'Descendant' girl Dove was good as well. The rest of cameos like Samuel L. Jackson and Alba was fine. It was from the director of 'Fanboys'. It tells the story of a girl trained to be an assassin from a very young age who escapes the centre to live a normal life in the real world. And that's where she struggles to blend in, as well as to overcome from the tailing troubles of the past. A well entertaining film, if you are not expecting anything big. It got a few great action sequences. Except Sam L. Jack, it is totally a chick film and most probably suitable for everyone for viewing. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I want a sequel for it. Particularly business wise that won't do well as this one was not received well by the film critics. Despite I approve it for a go, the rating wise it is just an average film. Sometimes that's where opinion divides for a film about what we felt watching it and how we're going to rate it later on. 6/10
The Movie Mob2022-09-14
★ 6/10
You have definitely seen the movie before, just without the spies. A typical teenage coming-of-age flick with a new girl navigating the turbulent dangers of the high school social scene, except this time she's a spy. Barely Lethal felt like an old-school Disney channel movie with a slightly bigger budget and better stars. Whether that is good or bad is up to you. There were some funny moments, but it hit almost every cliché to the point I was guessing most of the dialogue before they even said it. While it didn't bring anything new, it was still a decent, enjoyable film. Some of the acting was good. Some was overtly cheesy. I always enjoy Samuel Jackson as a cranky mentor-type character. Ultimately, I didn't hate it and didn't love it.