Netflix And Chill: Best Of The Best (2026)

If you enjoy teen comedy dramas, if you enjoy dance movies, if you enjoyed the likes of Bring It On, and if you could easily find your ears pleased by some Bollywood-fusion tunes, then Best Of The Best might just keep you as entertained as I was. In fact, the only people who will probably hate it are those hoping for a remake of the 1989 martial arts competition movie.

Besties Maya (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and Anjali (Priyanka Kedia) are looking forward to life at UCLA. Anjali may need a bit more help academically, but both will enjoy distancing themselves from an embarrassing incident from near the end of their schooldays (involving an onstage dance routine and some drones that went haywire). It looks like history may repeat itself, however, when the girls decide to join a Bollywood-fusion dance team, headed up by Ronak (Ankur Rathee). Anjali is liked and viewed favourable, whereas Maya is often viewed as too strong-willed and selfish. The team needs to succeed, it needs to win, and any attempts by Maya to break from some of the traditional and stuffy elements are met with great resistance. It's a difficult time, although things get a bit better when Maya gets involved with Arjun (Chaneil Kular).

Co-written by Prashanth Venkataramanujam and Hasan Minhaj (the latter also allowed a small supporting role onscreen, as well as both creatives shepherding this through from inception to completion via their production company, 186K Films), Best Of The Best is a familiar slice of teen fun, nicely in line with the many smarter movies we've had in that sub-genre throughout the first quarter of this century. The cultural plot points are inextricably woven throughout, and this is another film that recognises the apparent paradox of very specific touchstones working to make something that has universal appeal.

Director Lena Khan may not have many features to her name, but this might serve as a great springboard for whatever she wants to do next in her directorial career.  It's a perfect balance of fun, energy, emotional turbulence, and self-reflection, and she's helped enormously by her main cast members.

Ramakrishnan delivers a star-making turn here (after impressing in a few other film roles, and playing the main character in the popular Never Have I Ever TV show). She's smart, funny, very talented, and happy to mishandle things when weighed down by prejudices and negativity from others. Kedia has the easier role, but she plays it well, especially in a third act that requires some extra honesty from her character once she sees how life has been viewed a very different way by her best friend. She also keeps up with her co-star when it comes to the impressive dance routines. Rathee is suitably driven and stubborn as he engages in a battle of wills with someone who has some ideas he would really benefit from hearing out, Kular is as sweet and charming as he needs to be in his role, and Minhaj has fun in the couple of scenes that have his Professor character being much more aware than he'd like to be of the ongoing dance team drama.

A fresh and vibrant wander through some familiar territory, Best Of The Best is easygoing entertainment that should keep most viewers happy. It's also an excellent bit of representation for some viewers who probably wouldn't expect to see themselves in such a well-platformed mainstream teen movie.

8/10

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You Got Served (2004)

The fact that I got to this point in my life without having seen You Got Served is bewildering, especially when you consider that I have seen all of the Step Up movies (I love them), many of the Bring It On movies, Drumline, and even Dance Flick (which is mostly inspired by this, but follows such a well-known formula that I'd argue you could already predict most of the gags if you have seen even one of the other films mentioned). Anyway, we're here now. I am all up to date.

David (Played by Omanri Grandberry AKA Omarion) and Elgion (Marques Houston) are the two young men who lead the hottest dance crew in the busy world of dance battles. They don't think there's any threat when they are challenged to a battle for a hefty amount of cash by a rich white dude named Wade (Christopher Jones, looking very much like the douchiest white dude to ever breathe outside of an Oddspring music video). Things don't go according to plan, unfortunately, and the crew get served. So it's up to the crew to endure as they aim to take their turn of doing the serving. Things get complicated by the fact that David is injured while running an errand for a local gangster, on his own because Elgin is making googly-eyes at his sister, Liyah (Jennifer Freeman).

You Got Served is certainly worth a watch, especially if you are as interested in dance movies as I am (from Fred Astaire to Gene Kelly, to all of those . . . Step Uppers, I just love watching people dance like nobody is watching in a way that guarantees everyone will watch). It's just a shame that it is overshadowed by so many of the films that came after it, for a number of reasons.

First up, sorry to say, the leads aren't very good. They're not awful, and they show some good dance moves (importantly), but they don't have the instant likability that would help a film like this. Pushing aside the guys, Freeman is a great presence, but her character is the one who causes friction, undermining her easy warmth and sweetness. Jones does a great villain turn, and could easily have been a NPC in some arcade dance game. Steve Harvey is fun as Mr. Rad, the man who referees a lot of the dance battles, and tries to keep things civil, and you get a third act cameo from Li'l Kim allowing her to show how compassionate and cool she is (not sure how much I should underline that as sarcasm, which may or may not be fair).

Written and directed by Chris Stokes, who did another couple of dance movies after this, and has built up an eclectic filmography over the past couple of decades, the other main reasons for this film not being as good as it should be rest with him. The script sets up some problems for the leads, but then decides to let them off the hook relatively easily, which undermines the core message about these young adults using their dance skills to pave the way to a new life. There IS that message still there, but it's weakened when we're told that there's a lot less at stake for the big final number. There's also a real mess in the back half of the film, with poor editing and plotting making it slightly confusing as you just sit back and wait for the inevitable rematch that will make up the final battle.

Worst of all, the dancing isn't showcased as well as it could be. The dance moves seem pretty great, and there are some huge moves pulled out of the bag when most needed, but things are undone by, yet again, poor editing (going to namecheck Earl Watson here) and a script that doesn't think to plot things out with some better stepping stones, decent build-up, or any sense of victories and losses being fully earned.

5/10

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Some of the rest of the fest (a Top 10, if you like).

This is by no means any kind of comprehensive overview of the acts appearing just now in Edinburgh but it is a small selection of shows and names that I have seen, heard and give a thumbs up to.

The place to go is HERE for a more in-depth browse and all of your ticket purchases. Oh, and your first port of call should, of course, be the three shows that I was able to review recently after loving each and every one of them. Anyway, here are 10 acts/shows that I think you should check out for a variety of reasons. This "top 10" is in no particular order, it's just 10 recommendations because 10 is a nice, round number and I don't want to overstretch myself.

1) Jim Jefferies - I managed to catch a bit of Jim Jefferies when I attended Forth On The Fringe last Friday at The Playhouse and he's as wonderfully crude and sharp as ever. If you're a fan of his then check out his latest show, Fully Functional. If you're not a fan of his yet but like comedy from someone unflinching then check out his latest show, Fully Functional.

2) Camille O'Sullivan - The darling of the Festival music scene is back for only a few nights this time around. But I've heard that any evening spent listening to Miss O'Sullivan is an evening to treasure.

3) Felicity Ward - I had never heard of this woman before last Friday evening (she was also part of the Forth On The Fringe set) but I'm now a fan.

4) Then we have THESE guys. LAN-T003. Maybe a friend of mine has been helping them, mayyyyyyyybe.

5) Michael Winslow. Yes, the man of 1001 sounds is back in Edinburgh. Best know to fans of the Police Academy movies, Winslow is a huge talent. Make a double-bill of this man and Tom Thum and you have a cacophony of sounds you'll never have thought possible from the human voicebox.

6) The Ladyboys Of Bangkok. Now, I know that you may snigger and say "yeah, yeah, right Kevin" when I tell you that I've not seen this show yet in all the years that it has been coming to Edinburgh. But it's true. What else is true is that I have been keen to see it for a long time, apparently this group of performers can put on one helluva show.

7) Fans of the written word will definitely want to take their pick from the many wonderful opportunities that arise at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

8) Jerry Sadowitz. A supremely accomplished magician and also, most probably (surely?), a diagnosed psycopath. If you're brave enough then go along and see how quickly Sadowitz can offend you.

9) Tim Vine. Okay, so I've never seen Tim Vine in an actual live show but I've seen enough of his schtick to know that he's a personal hero of mine. I love him, mainly because he'll never pass up the opportunity for a great (or even awful) pun. He returns in 2012 with The Tim Vine Chat Show. If you don't have fun then I'll cut all of my hair off, bake it in a pie and then eat it. With no added sauce.

10) Oh, there's also something going on every night that ends with fireworks going off. It's usually already sold out by now but you can test your luck here.