‘Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again’ Is The Only Musical I’ll Ever Truly Love

Sequels are usually hit or miss, but you’d be hard pressed to find a better follow-up than Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. With its catchy tunes, unbelievable casting, dramatic flashbacks, and heavily-choreographed group dances, Ol Parker’s sequel to the hit 2008 musical is everything ABBA fans could have wanted and then some. If you’ve been sleeping on the Mamma Mia! sequel — or if you’re musical-averse like me — now is the perfect time to change that. Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is now available to stream on HBO, and it’s so amazing that even those who hate sudden bursts of song may find themselves, well, bursting into song. Plus, it features what is undeniably the greatest end credits scene of all time. Marvel, who?

The aptly titled Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again picks up Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and Donna’s (Meryl Streep) story 10 years after we last saw the mother-daughter duo. But this time around, there’s one major difference: Donna has passed away. In the months since her death (Donna died about a year before the sequel begins), Sophie has dedicated herself to reopening her mother’s hotel, a goal that has caused some friction with her husband, Sky. As if her grief, marital problems, and new business venture weren’t enough, Sophie also has to juggle with her three fathers (Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard, and Pierce Brosnan), two of whom can’t make the grand re-opening. Mamma Mia, indeed!

All that is certainly fertile ground for a sequel movie, but that’s only half the story of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Intercut with Sophie’s present-day woes are flashbacks to 1979, when a young Donna (Lily James) graduates from college and moves to Greece to begin a new adventure. Along the way, Donna meets three very different men who sweep her off her feet — okay, two (sorry, Harry) — but after a few weeks of trysts, her world is turned upside down when she finds out she’s pregnant with a daughter. Move over, Mamma Mia! baby daddy drama; the sequel’s got baby conception drama.

And then there’s the Cher of it all, which introduces a third generation to this genetically-blessed line of women. While Cher, playing Donna’s estranged mother Ruby, only appears in the third act, she and her buttery voice make the most of their screen time. She even manages to reunite Sophie and Sky right when they need each other most. Oh, and she also (very likely) bones Andy García in the process. Is there anything this woman can’t do?

Somehow, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again handles this convoluted plot with grace, humor, and a whole lot of fun. Even though the sequel is considerably lacking in Streep-time, especially compared to the original, it’s so much fun that the lack of Streep-iness can be excused. Seriously: there is a scene that involves Christine Baranski and Julie Walters making vagina jokes in an attempt to bang García! You definitely aren’t going to find that in Les Mis.

My one piece of entertainment-related advice for the weekend is this: watch Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again immediately. If you’re having a bad day, the Mamma Mia! sequel will (I say WILL) improve your outlook. If you’re having a great day, watching Hugh Skinner bebop around Firth in the end credits scene will make it even better. How could it not?

No matter how much I dislike musicals, I’ll never bring myself to speak poorly of Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. Who knew all it would take to change my mind was a star-studded rendition of “Super Trouper”? Although, the sight of a very tan Josh Dylan diving off a boat didn’t hurt, either.

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is now available to stream on HBO.

Where to stream Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again