So many good releases this September and Do Revenge might be the most surprising of them all. Listen, Netflix do not have a good rep with teen movies and shows, like I mentioned in my Heartbreak High review, they had a lot of flops recently. But it seems someone there started making good choices, we got both these gems in one month.
Do Revenge is a dark teen comedy starring Camila Mendes (Riverdale), and Maya Hawke (Stranger Things). The film combines Gen Z relevance with references to all our favorite teen comedies — Clueless, Mean Girls, She’s All That, and with a guest performance from Sarah Michelle Geller, also Cruel Intentions.
The plot follows Drea, played by Camilla Mendes, a once popular student dethroned by her ex-boyfriend leaking her nudes. She teams up with Eleanor, a new student seeking revenge against an old friend who outed her and betrayed her. The two girls decided to do each others biddings, i.e. do each others revenge. Drea’s mission is to reveal Eleanor’s enemy's drug greenhouse, while Eleanor makes Drea’s ex show the world what a misogynist he really is. While everything seems to be going according to plan, many twists and turns await.
This movie was so fun to watch! I was planning on putting up a movie to be in the background while I’m on my phone but ended up glued to the screen. I’m so used to seeing the same protagonists in teen shows and movies, it was refreshing to see to female leads who are narcissistic and unlikable in such an intended way. Mendes and Hawke do a great job as Drea and Eleanor, and the dialog is mostly fun and not cringy, while still being relatable to Gen Z. To me, this is the first film in a while that reminds me of the glory of the high-school comedies of the 90s and early 2000s.
Now, as always, let’s talk about the gays. This film continues the with the agenda taken by most recent teen movies — queer people exist and teenagers mostly don’t care. Eleanor gave us sapphic yearning as well as maybe bisexuality? I’m not sure but I still liked it. Her paramour — Gabby, is a cool skater lesbian that we all wished we were dating in high-school. We also have Carissa, representing the plant-loving-stoner lesbian, which I’m sure TikTok appreciates. Of course we should also mention that Eleanor’s alleged revenge is against Carissa who spread a rumor Eleanor tried to kiss her when they were 13. Sure, whatever. It’s not like this movie is revolutionizing queer representation, but we’re there in a casual yet integral way, which is nice.
This is not to say that the film is completely without faults, a lot of the relationships seem underdeveloped and out of place at best, and completely illogical at worse. The pace was at times a bit off, while I understand the choice of the somehow slow build of the first half, and rapid collapse of the second, I believe the movie could've been shorter and a bit faster.
Honorable mention to the genius Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones), who had about 3 minutes of screen time and used them to showcase her abilities in an absolutely deranged way. Also wow do I love the styling and costuming in this movie, everything is so precise and cool, I want every single outfit.
All in all, really liked it, 4/5.
