Paul Leonard-Morgan Captures the Masculine and Feminine in “Inside the Manosphere” & “Pretty Lethal” Scores
Composer Paul Leonard-Morgan has found himself at a strange moment in his career. His two latest scores, on paper, are at opposite ends of the spectrum. He wrote the music for Louis Theroux’s latest documentary, Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. It’s an extremely contemporary score about the world of online male influencers who equate masculinity with a series of hate-filled ideals. He also wrote the music for Pretty Lethal, a narrative film about five ballerinas who end up in a fight for their lives when their bus breaks down outside a mysterious roadside inn. To Leonard-Morgan, though, they have more in common than meets the eye.
“They’re both about female autonomy in the end, aren’t they?” smiles Leonard-Morgan.
Source: Cool Music
He worked on the films concurrently, switching between the classic orchestrations that Pretty Lethal called for and the vibey, Miami flare of Inside the Manosphere. While the films may end in a similar theme, the path to get there is quite different.
“Louis’ interview technique is to give people enough room to hang themselves. He lets them talk, and there’s that awful silence then, which makes them think, well, I guess I better fill the gap.”
Leonard-Morgan points out the irony that Inside the Manosphere is a documentary about social media and toxic masculinity, and the film is doing well on Netflix because people are talking about it on social media. For two weeks, it has been the number one documentary and the number two film overall, which is rare for non-fiction works.
“It started a conversation that I think is so important. I didn’t know much about the manosphere before. Seeing the film, I was absolutely horrified. I’ve got two teenage daughters. My mates who have watched it with their teenage sons have done it as a learning experience. They’re watching it and they’re not telling off the teenage son. It’s just like, well, what do you think? Does this appeal to you? Do you see that it’s all full of shit?”
Theroux’s approach is to give people rope to hang themselves. The guys featured in the documentary are warned about Theroux’s reputation as a documentarian as they’re filming. Theroux is the guy you call when there’s a thorny topic to explore. From Scientology to Jimmy Saville, Theroux has made a film about it, but he’s never been in the business of telling the viewer what to feel. He merely presents the situation and the people at the heart of it and allows them to explain themselves. Leonard-Morgan took a similar approach in his score.
“We never signposted what we wanted people to think. It’s a very cool and edgy soundtrack. One of the main techniques we used was dropping out the bass underneath when they’re actually talking.”
Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
“When you’ve got a sub-bass, it makes people feel really edgy but they don’t know why. When you suddenly lose the bass, then it’s like, oh, I don’t know why I feel this way, but it’s an exhale. Hitler did it at Nuremberg rallies. He would put on the sub-bass so all these tens of thousands of people would be there and they didn’t know why they felt on edge. As soon as Hitler came on stage, they got rid of the sub-bass and everyone suddenly stood up. It was this big release. People also now do that at megachurches. That feeling of using a sub-bass to make people feel on edge and you suddenly lose it, that’s what we did when Louis was interviewing the various people.”
Leonard-Morgan explains that there are three main strands of the Inside the Manosphere score. There’s the main theme that plays as Theroux moves from subject to subject, the Donna Summer/Miami sound born out of where many manosphere guys live, and then the sound that acts as the theme for the men.
“That manosphere one was definitely the hardest because we were trying to work out, is it happy, is it sad? How are we playing these guys?”
Where the manosphere men are all postulating about their masculinity, Pretty Lethal opens with young women in classic ballerina costumes. All pink tulle and elegance on top, but underneath is a bubbling anger that slowly makes its way to the surface. For Leonard-Morgan, writing the music for Pretty Lethal was a dream job.
Courtesy of Prime
“I’ve never done anything like this. I said to Vicky Jewson, the director, I picture this with a full orchestra, right? It’s Tchaikovsky. It’s a classical world. That’s what one would expect from ballet, but we’re going to twist that because in my head it’s punk rock, right? These girls have got a total punk rock attitude, so we’re going to get a proper punk band in the studio.”
Leonard-Morgan explains that there are three main fight sequences that have to be perfectly choreographed to his music. Jewson had always planned for the final fight to go along to the “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” from The Nutcracker, but Leonard-Morgan had a little more flexibility with the others. What unites them all is Leonard-Morgan’s desire for Pretty Lethal’s thrilling action taking center stage.
“There are action movies where you sit back and watch, where you don’t feel involved. Then there are action movies where you’re on the edge of your seat. You have visceral, audible reactions. People had that reaction at the premiere, 1,200 people all in the palm of the movie’s hand.”
Courtesy of Prime
“The first fight sequence is mostly orchestral. It’s scored to within an inch of its life. Every single hit, every single single pirouette, is timed. The second fight sequence was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my life, because first off, you have this massive action scene with no music. Everyone always references The Bourne Identity and they’re like, oh, this should be like a Bourne movie. I remember speaking to a director once and saying, I know you love it, but there isn’t any music in that action sequence you’re talking about. In their heads, it’s this monstrous scene. It’s the combination of sound effects, music, and action.”
“We’re going to have two minutes of silence first, and then the music’s going to come in. I’ve got this EDM rise, a glam electric guitar comes in, and then the orchestra just goes to hell. This weird combo of cyberpunk meets punk band meets orchestra — the girls are in charge. I can’t remember the last time I got to do something like that.”
“All films are fun, but there are some films where it’s like a close family. Vicky’s a friend for life now. She let me do my thing, but then she’s also guiding me. I was a kid in a candy store.”
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, TikTok, YouTube, & Facebook. Check out Movies with My Dad, a podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies and I Think You’ll Hate This, a podcast hosted by two friends who rarely agree.
Support Your Local Film Critic!
~
Support Your Local Film Critic! ~
Beyond the Cinerama Dome is run by one perpetually tired film critic
and her anxious emotional support chihuahua named Frankie.
Your kind donation means Frankie doesn’t need to get a job…yet.