Emmys 2023: The Curious Evolution Of The TV Movie Category

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While making Do Revenge for Netflix, Camila Mendes felt like she was working on a theatrical, not a made-for-TV movie. “There was more of a priority in the art of it, you know?” says Mendes (Riverdale) of the campy film that follows a pair of high schoolers who go after each other’s bullies.

Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and co-starring Stranger Things‘ Maya Hawke and Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner, the clever film penned by Robinson and Celeste Ballard had a “bigger budget than a lot of high school movies do.” “There was more priority being placed in putting together these beautiful cinematic shots and making the costumes look really vibrant and character specific,” recalls Mendes. “I do think this movie is something that could have been in a theater, and I feel so lucky that I got to watch it in a theater for the premiere.” Instead, the movie dropped in 2022 on the streamer, making it eligible to compete against other so-called TV movies at this year’s Emmys.

Though thrilled at the prospect of her adult-themed film possibly earning some recognition, Mendes admits, “I didn’t know that was even a category.” Once a hot destination for films like The Burning Bed, Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story and Something the Lord Made so they could get the recognition they deserve, the Outstanding Television Movie race has evolved into an odd miscellany of flicks not quite big enough for theaters but not even remotely similar to the kind of issue-oriented projects that used to dominate the category.

The trend has never been more evident than among this year’s top contenders, which include the queer romcom Fire Island, the much-ballyhooed sequel Hocus Pocus 2, and the feel-good family pic Dolly Parton‘s