Directed by Bert & Bertie, Troop Zero takes place in a tiny Georgia town in 1977. A motherless girl dreams of a life beyond the confines of her trailer-park home. When her quest for connection leads her to reach for the stars in a competition that lands on NASA’s landmark Golden Record, it becomes clear she will have to depend on some new friends to take her the last mile.
Every night, Christmas Flint, played by Mckenna Grace, sits under a starry sky with a flashlight, signaling to extraterrestrial visitors that never arrive. Sensitive, imaginative, and deeply lonely, Christmas and her equally eccentric best friend Joseph are the ultimate misfits in their rural hometown of Wiggly, Georgia. When Christmas learns that the winners of the annual Birdie Scout Jamboree talent contest will be included on a recording to be sent into space for posterity, her mission in life becomes to join the Scouts and win Jamboree.
A snobbish local Birdie Scout troop and their uptight leader Miss Massey, played by Allison Janney, blackball her. Christmas rallies a group of elementary-school outliers to start their own chapter. With grudging help from her dad’s angry office manager, Miss Rayleen, played by Viola Davis, Christmas and her crew have to bypass every roadblock Miss Massey can find in the fine print of the Birdie bylaws to reach the Jamboree and their chance at immortality.
The movie entertains on many levels with Christmas’ solitary late-night vigils and final show-stopping musical performance. Troop Zero is an endearing and magical tale set against a backdrop of beloved hits of the ’70s, as Christmas forges friendships that will change her life and help her find a real family.
Janney and Grace starred together in I, Tanya, which Janney won an Oscar for her supporting role.
Watch the trailer and have a good belly laugh.
