Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Julie And The Phantoms’ on Netflix, A Teen Musical With An Air Of Mystery

Inspired by the Brazilian series of the same name, Julie And The Phantoms has a simple enough premise:  Girl meets three dead musicians and together they form a band. A series like that could go in a lot of different directions, but this one skews funny, full of heart, and just a little bit mysterious. It’s just your typical young adult series containing equal amounts of pop music and magical realism.

JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Some rockin’ guitar licks waft out of Hollywood’s Orpheum theater as the name “SUNSET CURVE” is lit up on the marquis outside with the words “SOLD OUT” beneath. The four members of the band, sweat dripping from their perfect mid-’90s hair, rock out to what would likely have been their first #1 hit, “Now or Never.” It would have been… if three of the four of them weren’t about to die.

The Gist: The year is 1995, and just as Alex (Owen Joyner), Luke (Charlie Gillespie), and Reggie (Jeremy Shada) wrapping up their sound check for their band’s first big gig, a gig they never got to play because, for food-borne reasons you’ll have to see for yourself, they die right before they go on.

Now the year is 2020. Julie (played by newcomer Madison Reyes) is a high schooler enrolled in a special music program for especially talented students. Except ever since her mother, a songwriter, died, she hasn’t been able to perform. Her dad, played by Carlos Ponce, has tried signing her up for therapy, and now he plans to sell their house to help her cope with the memories of her mom. Her friend Flynn (Jadah Marie) tries to distract her, but nothing pulls her out of her emotions. After spending 25 years essentially trapped in purgatory, the ghosts apparate into Julie’s mom’s music studio one night while Julie is there. Try as she might to ward them off with a crucifix, eventually Julie warms to them and they all form a friendship. With the band hanging out in her studio, Julie finds comfort and the ability to play music again. And through Julie, the bandmates can communicate with the real world again through their music.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? A lot of the series feels thematically similar to 2017’s Home Again, the movie where Reese Witherspoon takes in three guys she’s never met who are aspiring filmmakers, to live in her L.A. guest house, and each of them forms a special relationship with her and her family and through them she realizes who she is and what she wants out of life. Granted, none of the guys in that movie were ghosts. Given that this is a Kenny Ortega joint, there are a lot of High School Musical vibes in here too.

Our Take: There’s a lot to be intrigued by with Julie And The Phantoms and the pilot sets up plenty of questions that are begging to be answered. If there were four phantoms, why didn’t the fourth one die and where is he now? How can no one hear the ghosts speak, but they can hear them play their music? Why did we just get a three-second glimpse of Cheyenne Jackson looking like a ghost on his way to the Magic Castle?

In addition to the fun, well-written storytelling, the performers are top-notch. Without knowing anything about her, I assumed Madison Reyes, like so many of her co-stars, had a Disney Channel or Nickelodeon pedigree and has been at this for years. She’s an incredible talent and delivers a genuine performance full of heart, it’s hard to believe this show is her big break. As the backbone of the series, she carries it well, and she has a charming supporting cast written so that everyone is interestingly drawn, no one is overly broad or irritating.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: After spending an entire episode setting up how musically blocked she is, Julie finally heads back into the music studio and sits down to the piano to play one of the songs she wrote with her mom. It’s a bop, alright. The muses take over Julie and she wails loud enough for the living and the dead to hear her, at which point, everyone realizes Julie just got her mojo back.

Sleeper Star: He was only in the pilot for a few seconds but we are dying to see more of Cheyenne Jackson’s mysterious Old Hollywood ghost this season.

Most Pilot-y Line: Julie’s Dad: “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Julie: “I have!”

Our Call: STREAM IT! Julie is full of great performances, peppy pop songs, and a solid storyline we’re excited to dig into.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Brooklyn. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.

Where To Stream Julie And The Phantoms

Watch Julie And The Phantoms on Netflix