Best of the Best

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1:51

Best of the Best

PG-13

2026

1h 52m

Comedy

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Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

81%

Tomatometer

16 Reviews

59%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

Two childhood best friends, Maya and Anjali, join UCLA's competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team, only to discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.

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Alison Foreman

IndieWire

2 days ago

B+

At a time when even intentionally provocative genre films can’t keep up with the pace of futurism, Minhaj and Venkataramanujam also use their topical chops to make this bubbly effort particularly of the moment.

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Nandini Balial

RogerEbert.com

2 days ago

2.5/4

I am glad 'Best of the Best' exists, but stories about brown women should be written by them too.

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William Bibbiani

TheWrap

3 days ago

The title is only slightly hyperbolic [...] A film this funny and involving will keep you alert and invested even if you’re dangerously sleep-deprived.

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Natasha Alvar

The Fiction Department

15 hrs ago

3.5/5

Best of the Best is a reminder of how much we need more mainstream films about brown girls.

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Kristen Maldonado

Pop Culture Planet

1 day ago

Best of the Best is about taking risks, finding your confidence, and, most importantly, the enduring strength of sisterhood. It’s refreshing to see South Asian girls lead a big, feel-good dance movie in all their funny, romantic, messy, and flawed ways.

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Ruchika Bhat

Digital Mafia Talkies

2 days ago

3.5

Anjali and Maya’s story is more relatable to me than anything I’ve seen in years, even in Indian cinema.

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N R

@RT77704122 44 min ago

Such a fun and captivating movie! Love love loved the choreography! Immediately told all of my friends to watch it.

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Advanced C

@RT47622466 55 min ago

Incredible story about friendship/ sisterhood. 12/10! Choreography was impeccable! So much nostalgia from my college days. So perfectly captured. Seeing our stories told by our own communities gives a genuine flavor to the film that I haven't seen in a film in a while.

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Sidra I

@RT25463264 1 hr ago

Loved the movie! Such a beautiful story of friendship and an awesome representation of South Asian culture in America.

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Ruby A

@RT47267471 1 hr ago

Best of the Best was an enjoyable watch. It was especially nice to see a complete South Asian cast on screen, with smart wit and humor strewn throughout the movie in a way that felt natural. This wasn’t the typical silly, predictable college movie nor another college movie centered around girls fighting over a boy. Instead, the heart of the story is friendship and sisterhood. The filmmakers clearly wanted to have fun with the genre while also elevating it. Some may point out that the film was written by two brown men, but representation behind the camera goes beyond the writers. Having a Muslim woman who wears hijab directing the film says plenty in itself, particularly in a genre where South Asian and Muslim voices have historically had so little space. Overall, Best of the Best manages to be funny, smart, culturally authentic, and genuinely entertaining. The celebration of South Asian culture is the kind of representation that feels long overdue.

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Sewwandi R

@RT68329194 5 hrs ago

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s performance disappointing. It wasn’t engaging enough to make anyone interested in watching the movie.

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Vara S

@RT63342165 6 hrs ago

The two lead actresses did well, but they couldn't save the overstuffed and at times nonsensical script.

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Lena Khan

Director

Janina Gavankar

Actor

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan

Maya

Priyanka Kedia

Actor

Ankur Rathee

Actor

Chaneil Kular

Actor

Best of the Best: Trailer 1

1:51

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Synopsis

Two childhood best friends, Maya and Anjali, join UCLA's competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team, only to discover that the road to winning the U.S. Championship is far more raucous and cutthroat than they ever imagined.

Director: Lena Khan
Producer: Jonathan Eirich, Hasan Minhaj, Prashanth Venkataramanujam
Screenwriter: Prashanth Venkataramanujam, Hasan Minhaj
Distributor: Netflix
Production Co: Rideback, 186K Films
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 18, 2026
Runtime: 1h 52m

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