Retriel
Have you heard about the best circus movie ever “The Greatest Showman”? It’s a movie about a man that pursues fame too much and ruined everything. It’s songs are good to listen. Here is the best circus movie synopsis.
Synopsis
The film opens with Phineas Taylor “P.T.” Barnum (Hugh Jackman) joins his circus troupe in a song (“The Greatest Show”), playing to the enthusiastic crowd as he and his performers perform the dazzling show.
We cut to Barnum as a young boy (Ellis Rubin) in the 1800s, working with his tailor father Philo (Will Swenson). They arrived at Mr.’s house. Hallett (Fred Lehne) and his daughter Charity (Skylar Dunn). P.T. making Charity laugh and spit out her tea, prompting her father to punch her in the face and forbid her to come near him. However, P.T. and Charity spent time together and develop a close friendship over song (“A Million Dreams”), even as Amal is forced to go to a finishing school. They write letters to each other and eventually meet again as adults, where Barnum proposes to Amal (now played by Michelle Williams).
Barnum worked for a trading company until his boss told everyone they were closing the company for bankruptcy after their trading ship sank to the bottom of the ocean. Barnum returns home to Charity and their daughters Caroline (Austyn Johnson) and Helen (Cameron Seely). He brings home a spinning lamp, or “waiting machine”, for Caroline’s birthday. Charity and the girls all make wishes, and Barnum hatches an idea.
Barnum goes to the bank to get a $10,000 loan and uses the deed to the (sunken) merchant ship as collateral. He thought a good idea so he used that money to build a museum dedicated to the oddballs. Unfortunately, the museum failed to attract business, and most people balked at the idea.
The Beginning Of His Career
Barnum then travels around town looking for unique individuals. Among them is a runt named Charles Stratton (Sam Humphrey), a bearded woman named Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), a fat man named Lord of Leeds (Daniel Everidge), a man in hair called Dog Boy (Luciano Acuna, Jr. ), and a man 8 feet tall. Although initially seen as a freak, Barnum manages to get them all to perform a number of musical acts that win over crowds each night (“Come Alive”). One who remains unimpressed is critic James Gordon Bennett (Paul Sparks). Despite having no interest in Barnum’s show, Bennett inspired him to change his name to “Circus P.T. Barnum”.
The circus begins to turn a healthy profit, causing Barnum to move his family into a luxurious home, and is also able to place Caroline in a ballet school. However, she becomes disheartened when the other girls mock her for being part of the circus family.
Barnum then met a playwright named Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron). He approaches Philip with a chance to join his circus (“The Other Side”), and Phillip agrees on the condition that he keeps 10% of the profits.
The Romance Begins
The group is invited to England to meet Queen Victoria (Gayle Rankin). He noted that Charles (now General Tom Thumb) was very short, and he made allowances that he wasn’t very tall either. After an awkward silence, Victoria let out a guffaw. Later, Barnum and Phillip meet opera singer Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson), and they invite her to perform at the event so she can be known around the world.
Jenny rejoins the United States. He performs in front of a large crowd (“Never Again”) which includes Phillip’s parents, as well as Charity’s. The crowd loved him, and Barnum even saw Bennett in the audience enjoying him. He finds himself falling in love with trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). After Jenny’s performance, Barnum and the others get together with a party, but when the rest of the troupe want to join the party, Barnum kicks them out. Although sad at first, the troupe decides not to let this get them down. They decided to embrace who they are, regardless of how they are seen (“This is Me”).
Phillip tries to introduce Anne to his parents, but they reject her because of her race. She leaves annoyed, and Phillip tells his parents to give Anne a chance. He goes to find her, and they confess their feelings to one another (“Rewrite The Stars”).
The Tragedy
Barnum continued to tour with Jenny, leaving Phillip as ring head with the show. Protesters constantly congregated outside to harass the group because of their physical differences. The distance proves difficult for Amal and the girls (“Tightrope”). While celebrating their success thus far, Jenny seems to develop an attraction to Barnum, but he remains loyal to Amal. Jenny is annoyed and threatens to quit, but Barnum has finished his tour. After one performance, the press trumpeted a photo of Jenny kissing Barnum before she finally stopped.
Phillip confronts the protesters, but they refuse to leave. When they threatened her and others, Anne’s brother W.D. (Yahya Abdul-Mateen III) threw the first punch, causing an all-out brawl between the troupe and the protesters. One of the protesters grabbed a lantern and threw it at the wall, lighting up the cinema. Barnum comes home from his tour and greets his family when he hears about the fire. He dashed towards the site just as flames consumed the entire building. Phillip walks inside to find Anne, but he’s already out with W.D. Barnum walks into Phillip, just as the building is collapsing. Her daughter was crying, thinking she was dead, until she emerged with an unconscious Phillip. He is taken to the hospital.
Barnum’s Realization
Barnum just sat outside the remains of the theatre. Bennett went to join him, saying that the police were holding back the thugs who started the fire, and while Bennett did not enjoy Barnum’s performance, he felt that another critic might have called it a “celebration of mankind”. He then shows Barnum’s newspaper, which shows Jenny kissing him and his announcement to stop. Barnum rushes home to Charity, only to find that she packed her bags because the bank kicked them out, but she is also unhappy when she sees the paper, despite Barnum’s attempts to explain himself.
Barnum goes drinking at the bar. The entire troupe finds him and confronts him. Lettie tells Barnum that while she may not always do the right thing, she sees them all as more than just freaks and gives them a real family and family. Barnum encouraged to pick himself up and help the troupe get back on track (“From Now On”). He then goes to Charity’s childhood home where the girls tell him she is at the beach. Barnum apologized to her for being obsessed with her pursuit of fame, and she said all she wanted was the man she loved.
Ending
Phillip, who has recovered, offers to give up his share of the profits to restart the circus. Despite Barnum’s doubts, Phillip insists on becoming his partner with a 50% stake. Barnum restarts the show in the tent with the circus animals and other troupes. The audience changed in droves. Barnum then decided to leave the ringmaster duties to Phillip so he could go and watch his girls grow up. Phillip finishes the show and kisses Anne, while Barnum rides an elephant to meet Charity and her daughters.
The film ends with Barnum and Charity watching Caroline perform at the ballet (with Helen playing a tree), and Barnum admits that everything he wants and needs is right in front of him.
That’s how the story goes. It suits the title “best circus movie” right? If this isn’t the best circus movie, then what is? This movie will go down in history with the “best circus movie” title tagged to it.
