--- title: "West Side Story" year: 2021 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/west-side-story-2021" fi1m_score: 79 critics_score: 84 critics_reviews: 23 published: "2026-09-20T08:29:03.490251+00:00" updated: "2026-09-20T08:29:03.664425+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # West Side Story (2021) Directed by Steven Spielberg · 2h 36m · MPA PG-13 · Drama, Romance, Crime **Fi1m score: 79** · Critics 84 from 23 reviews *In a sentence:* Everyone in the neighbourhood can sing, dance and act; the leading man manages two out of three > Steven Spielberg’s first musical is staged with more confidence than anything he has made this century, and Ariana DeBose and Mike Faist are superb in it. It falls short where a love story can least afford to: the boy at the centre. ## Synopsis The West Side of Manhattan, late 1950s. The tenements around Lincoln Square are being pulled down for a new arts centre, and two gangs are fighting over what is left. The Jets, led by Riff (Mike Faist), are white boys with nowhere else to be. The Sharks, led by Bernardo (David Alvarez), are Puerto Rican and arrived more recently. Tony (Ansel Elgort), Riff’s oldest friend, is a year out of prison and working in the drugstore run by Valentina (Rita Moreno), trying to stay clear of all of it. At a dance in the school gym he sees Bernardo’s sister María (Rachel Zegler) across the floor, and Bernardo’s girlfriend Anita (Ariana DeBose) sees him seeing her. Lieutenant Schrank (Corey Stoll) and Officer Krupke (Brian d’Arcy James) would rather the whole neighbourhood were gone before anyone gets hurt. ## Review Steven Spielberg’s [*West Side Story*](https://film.one/film/west-side-story) is a new film of a stage musical that already had a famous one, made in 1961, and Tony Kushner’s screenplay is the reason for making another. He keeps Leonard Bernstein’s score, Stephen Sondheim’s lyrics and the late-1950s West Side, and rebuilds everything around them. The blocks both gangs are fighting over are being flattened for Lincoln Center, so the war is for a place that will not exist by Christmas. And the drugstore where Tony works now belongs to Valentina (Rita Moreno), who was Anita in 1961 and watches the story from the other side of the counter. The first hour is as well staged as anything Spielberg has made this century. Janusz Kamiński opens on rubble and a wrecking ball, and the Prologue that follows is shot in hard sunlight on streets that look lived in. Adam Stockhausen’s production design gives every block a half-demolished building at the end of it, so the dancing always has a ruin behind it. Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar cut the numbers on the beat but let the shots run long enough to see the dancers are dancing. When Ariana DeBose leads “America” out of a courtyard and into the street, we grinned for the length of it and did not care who saw. DeBose is the film’s engine. Her Anita is quick, funny and in charge of every room, and she carries one scene near the end, which we will not describe, with a fury that hushed the cinema. Mike Faist is nearly her equal as Riff, a thin, grey-faced boy who has decided the gang is the only thing that will ever be his. David Alvarez’s Bernardo is a boxer and moves like one. Paul Tazewell dresses the Sharks in reds and mustards and the Jets in washed-out blues and denim, and at the gym dance the two colours spiral round each other under Kamiński’s circling camera. And then there is the middle of it. Rachel Zegler, in her first film, sings María with a clear, unforced soprano and plays her as a girl with a temper. Ansel Elgort’s Tony is the problem. Kushner has written him as a young man a year out of prison, frightened of who he used to be, and Elgort plays him as somebody who has never done anything. His voice is pleasant. His face gives nothing back. When the two sing “Tonight” on the fire escape, with Kamiński threading the camera through the ironwork so they are always half hidden from each other, we admired the shot and felt nothing. The film runs 156 minutes and the second half is mostly Tony and María. The gang story darkens after the rumble; the light turns grey and the streets empty, and the “Tonight Quintet”, cut between five sets of people waiting for the same night, is the best-edited stretch in the film. But every time it returns to the couple the temperature drops. What moved us most came from the oldest person on screen. Moreno sings “Somewhere” alone in the shop, in a voice that has sung better and does not pretend otherwise, and what the film has been saying about this neighbourhood, that it will be gone, became something we felt rather than something we noted. Most critics have gone further than us and called it one of Spielberg’s best. It is lavish, it is serious, and the dancing is filmed by a director who knows where to put a camera for a body in motion. But this is a love story, and the love is the weakest thing in it. It is a 12A, and the violence is felt rather than shown. See it on the biggest screen you can find, sit close, and watch the corners of the frame. That is where the film keeps the people it is most interested in. *Fi1m score 79, published 20 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics welcome Spielberg’s first musical warmly, and only a couple hold back. The praise gathers around the same things: the camerawork, which more than one review calls his most exhilarating in years; the staging of the big numbers, ‘America’ and the ‘Tonight’ balcony scene chief among them; and the supporting cast. Ariana DeBose’s Anita is the performance singled out most, with Rita Moreno, Mike Faist and Rachel Zegler close behind. Kushner’s changes to the book, the unsubtitled Spanish and the fuller life given to the Sharks, are taken as improvements rather than tampering. The reservations are consistent too. Several reviews find the central romance short on chemistry, and Ansel Elgort’s Tony is the casting most often questioned. A smaller group finds the film too reverent: Sight and Sound finds it tinged with melancholy, The New Yorker finds it dutiful, and Slant thinks it too remote to catch the story’s urgency. The spread is narrow and nobody dislikes it. ### Reviews we read (23) - **The Telegraph** (5/5): Spielberg’s first musical is a dazzling, swooningly beautiful reworking that feels definitive and serves as a timely testament to Sondheim’s genius. It fuses Golden Age musical euphoria with the grandeur of an immigrant epic and is the director’s finest film in 20 years. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2021/12/02/west-side-story-review-spielbergs-magnificent-remake-finest/) - **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (5/5): Spielberg delivers a breathtaking, muscular and terrifically cast version that supercharges the story with new urgency and smart structural tweaks while nodding to the 1961 film. The songs, score, choreography and performances, especially from Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno, make it a standout musical. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/west-side-story-2021) - **Empire**, Helen O'Hara (90/100, inferred): Spielberg delivers a beautiful, emotionally precise first musical that faithfully adapts the story while updating it with sharper details like Spanish dialogue and a lived-in world. The critic singles out the director's command of the camera and the standout performances from supporting players like Mike Faist, Ariana DeBose and Rita Moreno for making the film heartfelt and alive. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/west-side-story-2021/) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (90/100, inferred): Spielberg's brilliantly directed film is his most exhilarating in years, with kinetic camerawork, superb choreography and vibrant performances that breathe fresh life into the classic musical. It balances gritty realism with radiant stylization while thoughtfully addressing cultural representation. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-12-02/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg-remake) - **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (A-): Spielberg delivers a reverently faithful production with panache, excelling in staging and choreography, though it may not eclipse the 1961 version; praises the cast and thoughtful updates. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/steven-spielberg-chases-his-musical-dreams-with-a-gorge-1848152097) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Spielberg’s remake is a visually staggering, hyperreal revival of the classic musical that retains the songs and period setting while making smart adjustments to the book. The critic praises the director’s technical mastery and gives their heart to this poignant American fairytale of doomed love. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/dec/02/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg) - **Slant Magazine**, Jake Cole (3.5/4): The film is thoughtful with luminous shots and transcendent moments in character-driven scenes like the 'Tonight Quintet,' but feels dispassionate and too zoomed-out overall to fully capture the story's urgency. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg/) - **The Independent**, Jake Coyle (3.5/4): The critic praises Spielberg, Kushner and Sondheim for reworking the musical from within to deepen characters and clarify themes, giving fuller life to the Sharks and balancing the story while connecting it to contemporary issues. The film is seen as a tasteful, impeccably crafted revival and a strong example of classical big-screen cinema, though it may not quite match the original's raw power. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/sharks-steven-spielberg-tony-kushner-dna-rachel-zegler-b1968770.html) - **Radio Times**, Patrick Cremona (4/5): Spielberg almost pulls off remaking a classic with an exhilarating, stunningly choreographed spectacle that improves on casting and adds progressive updates like un-subtitled Spanish and gentrification themes. It falls slightly short of the original in emotional intensity and visual magic but remains a major success. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/west-side-story-review/) - **Screen Daily** (75/100, inferred): Spielberg approaches the material with care that gives it modern resonance, creating a solidly entertaining remake with intimacy, emotion and a few transcendent moments while emphasising beloved elements without radical reinterpretation. Greater consideration for the Puerto Rican characters and Rachel Zegler’s radiant Maria stand out. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/west-side-story-review/5165656.article) - **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (75/100, inferred): The critic notes Spielberg makes it a true movie with dynamic camera work and makes smart narrative tweaks for sociopolitical depth, though the leads lack chemistry; it surpasses the original for some despite the critic's prior reservations. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-steven-spielbergs-west-side-story.html) - **RogerEbert.com**, Brian Tallerico (70/100, inferred): Spielberg and Kushner deliver an eloquent, graceful and often mesmerizing restaging that stays loyal to the original while adding fresh vitality through strong performances and staging. The standout is Ariana DeBose's showstopping 'America,' though Ansel Elgort's casting as Tony is a notable weak spot. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/west-side-story-movie-review-2021) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (70/100, inferred): The critic praises the sumptuous reimagining with inclusive casting and timely depiction of racial intolerance, noting it pulses with fresh vitality though it won't replace the 1961 version. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/west-side-story-steven-spielberg-1235056068/) - **The Times** (★★★★☆): Spielberg buoyantly reboots the classic with reverence, deft changes and standout performances (especially from Zegler), delivering a peerless cinematic homage that is typical Spielberg but perhaps too perfect and reverential. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/west-side-story-review-spielberg-buoyantly-reboots-bernsteins-classic-n99n9xhff) - **Sight and Sound**, Guy Lodge (65/100, inferred): The critic finds the remake tinged with melancholy from gentrification and nostalgia for the original, with thoughtful updates that boost secondary characters like Ariana DeBose’s Anita. However, the central romance between Tony and Maria lacks convincing chemistry and emotional pull. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/west-side-story-2021-musical-reboot-is-tinged-with-melancholy) - **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane (65/100, inferred): Spielberg's version aims for greater earthiness and authenticity than the 1961 film but feels dutiful overall despite its handsome production and panache. Rita Moreno's rendition of 'Somewhere' stands out as the most moving and daring moment. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/12/20/an-earthier-sweatier-west-side-story) - **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A): Spielberg launches into this new adaptation that feels fresh and immediate while retaining the classic feel, with politically pointed script updates and stunning camerawork and choreography. The cast shines, especially breakout talents like Zegler, Faist and DeBose, making this easily one of his best recent works. [Read](https://collider.com/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg-musical/) - **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (9.5/10): The critic praises Spielberg's vibrant and exuberant reimagining as a knockout and one of his best films, highlighting the lively musical numbers and modern sensibilities. They single out the energy and life in the performances and direction for praise. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/674685/west-side-story-review-steven-spielbergs-big-vibrant-take-on-the-classic-musical-is-one-of-his-best-films/) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): Spielberg delivers a stirring and necessary new take on the classic musical, honoring the original while updating it for today. The critic singles out the deepened emphasis on themes of racism, division and the possibility that love can still prevail amid intolerance. [Read](https://deadline.com/video/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg-remove-term-ansel-elgort-rachel-zegler/) - **Den of Geek** (5 out of 5): Spielberg delivers a masterful musical that improves on the original with a provocative take on America's soul, using the material's themes of bigotry and cultural divides to striking effect. The critic singles out the film's visual craft, particularly the inventive 'Tonight' balcony scene and overall cinematic energy. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/west-side-story-steven-spielberg-musical-war-for-america/) - **Polygon**, Tasha Robinson (90/100, inferred): Spielberg respects the original but makes the story his own through ambitious script tweaks, authentic Latinx casting and unsubtitled Spanish dialogue, plus dynamic camerawork that immerses viewers in the action. He has managed a remake that justifies its existence artistically as an act of fervent fandom. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/22827455/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg) - **The Wrap** (90/100, inferred): Spielberg and Kushner revere the source material but are not afraid to tinker with it, resulting in an electrifying and satisfying version. The critic singles out the fresh staging of numbers like 'America' and the strong ensemble, especially Ariana DeBose as Anita. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/west-side-story-review-2021-steven-spielberg/) - **The Ringer**, Manuela Lazic (85/100, inferred): Spielberg offers a realist correction of the original with better contextualization of racial and economic dynamics, authentic casting and language use, and cinematic integration of dances into narrative. The result amplifies the story's relevance and timeliness through blunt attention to racism, misogyny and disparity. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2021/12/10/movies/west-side-story-review-steven-spielberg) ## Details - **Director:** Steven Spielberg - **Director:** Steven Spielberg - **Screenplay:** Tony Kushner - **Cinematography:** Janusz Kamiński - **Editor:** Sarah Broshar, Michael Kahn - **Music:** Leonard Bernstein - **Production design:** Adam Stockhausen - **Costume design:** Paul Tazewell - **Producer:** Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Kevin McCollum - **Cast:** Ansel Elgort as Tony; Rachel Zegler as María; Ariana DeBose as Anita; David Alvarez as Bernardo; Mike Faist as Riff; Brian d'Arcy James as Officer Krupke; Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank; Rita Moreno as Valentina - **Runtime:** 2h 36m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 10 December 2021 - **Genres:** Drama, Romance, Crime - **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 2021); [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Winner, 2021) - **Budget:** $100 million - **Box office:** $76 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5GJLwWiYSg ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: streaming, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd - Apple TV: buy $19.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-20.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2022: Best Picture (nominated) - Golden Globes 2021: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (won) - Medal from the Circle of Cinematographic Writers for the best foreign film 2021: Medal from the Circle of Cinematographic Writers for the best foreign film (nominated) ## If you liked this - *West Side Story* (1961), Fi1m 80: The first film, stiffer in its book and still unbeatable in its dances. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/west-side-story.md) - *The Umbrellas of Cherbourg* (1964): Demy’s sung-through romance, all pastel walls and heartbreak, with a Legrand score. - *Cabaret* (1972), Fi1m 88: Fosse keeps the songs on stage and lets the city outside do the damage. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/cabaret.md) - *Romeo + Juliet* (1996), Fi1m 82: Luhrmann’s Verona Beach: the same story, no songs, twice the noise. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/romeo-juliet.md) - *In the Heights* (2021): Another New York neighbourhood about to change, sung with far less dread. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/west-side-story-2021