In rural Wiggly, Georgia in 1977, a group of elementary-school misfits band together to form their own troop of Birdie Scouts. Led by spunky outcast Christmas Flint, they infiltrate the Birdie Scout youth group in order to win a talent show. The winning Birdies will earn the right to have their voices included on the Voyager Golden Record, which Christmas believes will be heard by life in outer space, a connection her deceased mother nurtured. When they form the troop, the only number left unassigned in the state is zero; while the Birdie Troop leader Krystal Massey intends to assign "Troop Zero" to them as a slight, the girls, and one boy, take it as a good sign as it's the number representing infinity. Troop Zero requires a troop mother, and they find one in Christmas's father's secretary Rayleen, who also has history with Mrs. Massey. To qualify to compete in the talent show, Troop Zero must first obtain one troop badge each. As they go about earning them, they learn more about themselves and each other. The troop enters the contest, performing an interpretive dance of David Bowie’s “Space Oddity". The crowd laughs at them, but they carry on with their performance. In the end, they lose when the judges vote for the high-and-mighty Birdie Troop Five. Later that night, the representative from NASA joins the Troop Zero members during a meteor shower to record their voices to be transmitted into space as well. Hopeful and confident, Christmas wishes that the aliens are happy, that they're taking care of her mom, and that they have the same kind of friends she’s gained from the experience.
Cast
Production
In February 2018, it was announced Viola Davis had joined the cast of the film, with Bert & Bertie directing from a screenplay by Lucy Alibar. Todd Black produced the film, which Amazon Studios will distribute. This is the second feature film directed by Bert & Bertie, who have been creating commercials and shorts together since the two ladies met on a project in 2005. In March 2018, Mckenna Grace joined the cast of the film. In April 2018, Allison Janney and Jim Gaffigan joined the cast. In May 2018, Mike Epps, Charlie Shotwell and Edi Patterson joined the cast. In June 2018, Johanna Colón, Ashley Brooke, Milan Ray, Bella Higginbotham, and Kai Ture' joined the cast of the film. Troop Zero marks the second film together for Janney and Grace, who co-starred in the 2017 biopic I, Tonya. This is also the second film featuring Allison Janney and Viola Davis, who co-starred in the 2011 film The Help. The musical score for the film is by long time Bert & Bertie collaborator composer Rob Lord who has scored all the directors' projects to date.
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on February 1, 2019. This was the first feature film from Amazon Studios to be released as streaming-only, on the Amazon Prime Video service, on January 17, 2020.
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 68% approval rating based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 6.59/10, with the consensus "Thanks to a charming cast and infectious energy, Troop Zero is more than the sum of its instantly familiar parts."
