Spoiler Alert: If you still haven’t watched Work It, you should probably save this article for later!
A new dance comedy movie was recently released on Netflix (August 7th), telling the story of Quinn Ackerman (Sabrina Carpenter), a teenage girl who’s a brilliant student at Woodbright High and wants to attend at Duke University. Quinn did everything to make her application fully rejection-proof, but none of it works when she went to her collegiate application interview. During it, she accidently implies that she’s a dancer on the Thunderbirds dance team and will be dancing on the Work It Competition.
To turn this lie into a truth, she asks her best friend Jasmine (Liza Koshy) to teach her how to dance so she could join the dance team. And, guess what? Everything goes wrong. After being shamed by the captain of the Thunderbirds, Isaiah aka “Julliard” (Keiynan Lonsdale), Quinn decides to form her own dance squad, and ends up learning some valuable life lessons about teamwork and self-empowerment, while forming a strong bond with a talented dancer named Jake Taylor (Jordan Fisher).
Work It has an impressive young cast including Sabrina Carpenter (The Hate U Give and Mean Girls on Broadway) as the lead character Quinn Ackerman, Liza Koshy (Liza on Demand), Jordan Fisher (To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You) and Keiynan Lonsdale (Love, Simon and Love, Victor).
The movie’s soundtrack mostly includes modern pop tracks. The music brings very significant moments from act to act. Overall, there’s a blend of well-known pop stars and lesser-known artists that deserve more recognition. Here are some songs from the movie:
- Let Me Move You – Sabrina Carpenter
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Let Me Move You is a reiteration of the movie’s plot, that seeks to inspire people to follow their dreams. The song has an electrifying rhythm that makes you want to dance, which goes accordingly to the film’s objective. The song is about someone that takes you out of your comfort zone, that changes your life forever, and inspires you to search for happiness. Regardless of whatever people around you expect from you. Following your heart, finding your own rhythm, your life’s purpose and prioritizing your own happiness, well-being and passions.
The message the song brings is that it’s not healthy to put someone else’s happiness above your own, and that it’s a must to find people that encourage you to search for self-improvement, professional and spiritual fulfilment. Carpenter’s character finds these people in the movie, and they become friends. The name Let Me Move You is a pun that connects moving your body through dance and moving your soul and spirit, affecting your emotions.
- Mess – Jordan Fisher
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Mess starts playing when Quinn finds a video of Jake dancing to this song and from there she will first meet him in dance class. The song is about confusing love and how his life has become a mess dealing with a girl. He cannot tell if the girl wants to settle down with him and make it serious, or if she’s just having fun and screwing him over, and he’s so conflicted and needs time to himself. This song is about Quinn and Jake’s relationship that’s somewhat confusing.
- WOW – Zara Larsson
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Zara Larsson was chosen for one of the most romantic moments in the movie, with the song WOW. Jake and Quinn made a connection through dance, there’s a certain amount of sensuality and a romantic atmosphere, that finishes with them kissing. The song goes accordingly to the desire and attraction the characters feel for each other, which they were able to communicate with dance and, from there, start a relationship. The connection that they felt becomes clear when they dance together. In the middle of this hurricane of feelings, they end up creating a genuine connection and possible partnership.
- Thinkin Bout You – Ciara
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Ciara contributes to the soundtrack with the song Thinkin Bout You. The song makes Quinn find the “beat of her own heart” and the dance that has always been present within her. The lyrics talk about obsessing over someone and not being able to stop thinking about them, even when the person is not physically present. It can also, in the context of the scene, talk about how dancing is something the protagonist loves but did not know, and when she began to dance, it became a habit that she can’t give up, as if dancing was her destiny.
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The article above was edited by Laura Okida.
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