'The Sleepover' Trailer: Netflix's Action Comedy Is Like 'Spy Kids' Meets 'National Treasure' Meets 'True Lies'

Take the clue-following premise of National Treasure, the kid-centric approach of Spy Kids, and mix a dash of the "spouse doesn't know about their partner's secret skills" concept from True Lies, and you get The Sleepover, a new action comedy coming to Netflix later this month.

Malin Åkerman (Rock of Ages) plays a former thief who's pulled back into the game by villains who force her to reunite with her sexy former partner (Joe Manganiello, Magic Mike) to pull a heist. All of this is quite a surprise for her husband (Ken MarinoWet Hot American Summer), who had no idea about his wife's former life as a criminal. But most of the movie seems to center around the kids, who are naturally in over their heads when they get involved.

The Sleepover Trailer

This is the first screenplay credit for writer Sarah Rothschild, and the latest directorial effort from Step Up All In and Pitch Perfect 3 director Trish Sie. (Even if you've never seen those movies, you've likely seen Sie's work: she directed several music videos for the band OK Go which went viral due to their high concepts and complexity.)

The Sleepover isn't exactly aiming for my attention (I don't have kids), but I have to imagine that in these dull, draining days of our first COVID-19 summer, any new family movie is probably viewed as an oasis by both parents and kids. This one seems harmless enough to throw on and it will have a little bit of something for everybody. Parents will have to sit through some dumb jokes, kids will have to deal with marriage humor they might not understand, and at the end of the night, everyone will have been passably entertained for an hour and a half. Hey, you've gotta take your wins where you can get 'em these days.

Here's the film's official synopsis:

In this family adventure-comedy, Clancy (Sadie Stanley) and her kid brother Kevin (Maxwell Simkins) discover that their seemingly normal stay-at-home mom Margot (Malin Åkerman) is actually a former high-end thief in the witness protection program. When both their mom and dad (Ken Marino) are kidnapped and forced to pull one last job with an ex-flame of Margot's (Joe Manganiello), the siblings must team up to rescue their parents over the course of one action-packed night that they'll never forget.

The Sleepover debuts on Netflix on August 21, 2020.