Under the boardwalk of a Jersey Shore summer, two crabs from opposite sides of the sand fall for each other — and drag both their families into it.
What is Under the Boardwalk about?
Under the Boardwalk is an animated musical comedy built around a land crab who has spent his whole life scuttling around the Jersey Shore and a sea crab visiting as a tourist. Their unlikely romance sparks fast, but it doesn't stay private for long: friends and family on both sides start taking sides, and the boardwalk itself becomes the backdrop for a summer's worth of miscommunication, meddling, and musical numbers. The film leans into the culture-clash setup for both comedy and heart, contrasting the land crabs' scrappy boardwalk hustle with the sea crabs' more free-flowing tourist life. Directed by David Soren, it's built as a family adventure first, with the romance and the ensemble bickering giving it enough texture for adults watching alongside kids.
About the cast
Keke Palmer and Michael Cera voice the central pair, joined by a supporting cast including Bobby Cannavale, John Magaro, Jon Rudnitsky, Steven Van Zandt, Vanessa Bell Calloway, and Shoshannah Stern. It's a voice cast that mixes comedic and dramatic range, fitting a film that swings between broad family comedy and genuine romantic stakes.
Context & significance
Released in 2023, Under the Boardwalk is a joint production between the United Kingdom and the United States, and its setting draws directly on the real boardwalk culture of the Jersey Shore — arcades, saltwater taffy, summer crowds — reimagined entirely through crab-sized eyes. As a musical, songs carry several of the film's key emotional turns rather than dialogue alone, which is typical of the animated family-musical format it belongs to.
Watching Under the Boardwalk on Ktime
Under the Boardwalk streams on K-Time with Persian dubbing, making it an easy watch for Farsi-speaking families. A free K-Time account is all that's required to log in and stream; the page itself is open to browse without one.