Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is a Prom-tastic Movie! {Film Review}

My daughter and I were invited to the DreamWorks Animation campus earlier this week to screen the movie, “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.”

At the center of the film is Ruby Gillman (voiced by Lana Condor, “To All the Boys” movies), a high school student who is trying to gain independence from her well-meaning, but often irritating mother. I watched this movie with my teen daughter and let’s just say that we could both relate to the movie.

The movie’s subplot revolves around Ruby and her high school friends who want to go to prom. The problem though is the prom takes place on a boat that will be out on the open water and Ruby is forbidden by her mother to go. Why isn’t she allowed to be near the ocean? You will need to watch the movie to find out!

This summer, DreamWorks Animation dives into the turbulent waters of high school with a hilarious, heartfelt action comedy about a shy teenager who discovers that she’s part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens and that her destiny, in the depths of the oceans, is bigger than she ever dreamed.

Sweet, awkward 16-year-old Ruby Gillman (Lana Condor, “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” franchise) is desperate to fit in at Oceanside High, but she mostly just feels invisible. She’s math-tutoring her skater-boy crush (Jaboukie Young-White, Ralph Breaks the Internet), who only seems to admire her for her fractals, and she’s prevented from hanging out with the cool kids at the beach because her over-protective supermom (Toni Collette, “Knives Out”), has forbidden Ruby from ever getting in the water.

“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” brought laughs as we watched the teen angst play out on the screen. There is also an intergenerational storyline, between Toni Collette’s character and Ruby’s Grandmamah played by Jane Fonda, which adds another layer of hilarity.

Since the movie revolves around prom, DreamWorks’ pre-screening festivities involved an “underwater prom” complete with food, sand art, face painting and more!

As a special surprise, Freya Ridings performed her song “Rise” which was written specifically for this movie.

We were so excited to see her sing live and I was quite impressed, seeing as she had just performed at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival a few days earlier. For more photos from the “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” event, head over to Instagram to view my Reel!

We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and highly recommend it. Thank you, DreamWorks for having us!

“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” opens in theaters Friday, June 30.
“Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is rated PG.
Visit the official movie website here for more information.

Disclosure: No monetary compensation was received for this post. I attended an advanced screening of the movie which helped facilitate this review. Images shown in this post are used with permission. As always, my opinions are 100% my own.