On October 6, 2023, A24 released “Dicks: The Musical” based on the off-broadway musical “F***ing Identical Twins” by Josh Sharp and Aaron Jackson. The writers star in the film as Craig and Trevor, a pair of business rivals who discover they’re identical twins and decide to swap places in an attempt to trick their divorced parents to get back together.
The movie made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, winning the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness. It currently holds fresh at 79% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the critics consensus reading, “From its eyebrow-raising title to its gleefully provocative humor, talented cast, and catchy songs, ‘Dicks: The Musical’ is a cult movie in the making.” The star-studded ensemble includes Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Bowen Yang and Megan Thee Stallion. Read our full review round-up below.
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Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com praises the film, stating, “A twisted genre experiment that plays with sexuality, classic genre tropes, and general lunacy, it’s half a movie, but it’s so committed to its rebellious tone that it makes for a hell of a half.” He adds, “It’s got that go-for-broke energy that defines comedies that engender incredibly loyal followings. Some people are going to die for it. Some people who can’t get on its wavelength are going to actively hate it. Consider me somewhere in the middle, impressed enough by the fearlessness to appreciate it while also wishing it had been expanded a bit more beyond its loose structure and thin ideas.”
James Kleinmann of The Queer Review states, “Some movies feel like they are actively trying to achieve cult status, Dicks never does. It just has it in its DNA. It’s a gloriously filthy movie that John Waters would be proud to have made.” He concludes, “While most of the numbers have a traditional musical theatre quality to them—which works well juxtaposed with the frisky, NSFW lyrics—Megan Thee Stallion’s alpha female themed solo was clearly written specifically for her and has the flavour of her hits and all of the vibrancy that goes with them.”
Peter Debruge of Variety says, “This twisted cross between ‘The Parent Trap’ and ‘Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy’ seems destined for cult status. The absurdist brainchild of Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, ‘Dicks’ is an unapologetically puerile, hard-R novelty that’s just lo-fi enough to maintain its underground cred. If any other distributor were backing it, ‘Dicks’ might shrivel into home-video obscurity. Considering A24’s bizart-house cachet, however, the hipster boutique should be able to leverage the buzz from the movie’s opening (mid)night berth at the Toronto Film Festival — plus the legitimizing involvement of real-deal Broadway stars Megan Mullally and Nathan Lane — to box office success.”
Ross Bonaime of Collider notes, “’Dicks: The Musical’ is a decidedly big swing and a genuinely weird take on the musical that has its moments, but also feels stretched too thin given its concept.” Bonaime continues, “Mullally and Lane are perfect choices for such a strange tale, and they sell these parts with all the Broadway-ready attitude that they require. Also receiving a disappointingly little amount of screen time is Megan Thee Stallion as Craig and Trevor’s boss, who is the alpha within this alpha male world. Megan Thee Stallion only gets one musical number, but like with Mullally and Lane, it works because it’s letting a person with fantastic musical talents take over and do what they do best.”
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