Merrily We Roll Along is neither a stage show nor is it cinema, but damn it’s good.

Filmed over three performances in June 2024, not long after the Stephen Sondheim and George Furth penned musical won four Tonys in the Broadway Revival category, Merrily We Roll Along tells the story of three friends, one a composer, Franklin (Jonathan Groff), one a lyricist, Charley (Daniel Radcliffe), and one a writer, Mary (Lindsay Mendez). When we meet them, the year is 1974, and all three are at a swanky Hollywood party in Bel Air, celebrating Franklin’s latest success. Financially, he’s rolling. Personally, emotionally, artistically, he’s drowning. And he’s taking his two friends, not to mention a couple of lovers and a son, down with him.

But rather than plunge forward into an uncertain future, Merrily winds back the clock a few years at a time until that meeting in the 1950s, where Franklin, Charley, and Mary first found each other. It takes time to get there, about two and a half hours, but each stop inside the past finds reason to pause.

Directed by Maria Friedman, who also directed the stage show, Merrily is a delight. The performers are all stellar—particularly Joe (Reg Rogers), the Broadway impresario. Sam Levy’s cinematography is impressive in its immersion, considering the self-imposed limitation of staying behind the proscenium arch without feeling like a member of the audience. It doesn’t take long to fall under Merrily’s spell. Even less to fall for this trio.

Merrily We Roll Along (2025)
Directed by Maria Friedman
Book by George Furth
Songs and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Produced by David Babani, Patrick Catullo, Sonia Friedman, Jon Kamen, F. Richard Pappas, Dave Sirulnick
Starring: Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe, Lindsay Mendez, Max Rackenberg, Reg Rogers, Katie Rose Clarke, Krystal Joy Brown
Sony Pictures Classics, Rated PG-13, Running time 150 minutes, Opens in theaters Dec. 5, 2025

---