It follows Drea (Camila Mendes), previously the most popular girl at Rosehill Academy, who is seeking revenge on her boyfriend (Austin Abrams) after he leaks a private video. Meanwhile, Eleanor (Maya Hawke), a typical awkward teen, has a vendetta against the girl who outed her at camp years ago. The two form an unlikely and secret friendship to execute each other’s revenge plots: a promising premise but the film’s potential becomes increasingly wasted as it goes on.
Its greatest strength is the production design, driven primarily by the pastel-toned costuming which manages to be exciting and modern while simultaneously fitting in with the beloved conventions of the genre. The soundtrack achieves the same effect and the film is generally witty and very well-acted, especially by Mendes (Riverdale) - with special mentions also going to Austin Abrams’ (Euphoria) perfectfully hateful heartthrob, Max, and Sophie Turner’s (Game of Thrones) fabulous cameo as Erica. I cannot, though, ignore the fact that every teenage character is played by an actor in at least their mid-twenties. The language and content of the film are equally based largely on Gen Z stereotypes yet demonstrate a lack of understanding of how teenagers actually speak and behave. The result is a film that seems to tonally force itself down the throats of Gen Z viewers while depicting us as bitchy, vain, overtly “woke”, and fully 28.
The result is a film that seems to tonally force itself down the throats of Gen Z viewers while depicting us as bitchy, vain, overtly “woke”, and fully 28.
Narratively, it’s a mostly formulaic film that features a somewhat predictable plot twist that leads to, in my opinion, slightly overly generous borrowing from Mean Girls. And at 118 minutes, it is unforgivably long for a film with no likable protagonist to root for. To top it off, neither Drea nor Eleanor appears to have learned anything by the end. The opportunity for Robinson to make a valuable comment condemning revenge porn and celebrating female friendship was sadly missed.
Most frustratingly, however, is that Netflix’s social media marketing heavily hinted at a movie that centred a queer romance between Hawke (Stranger Things) and Mendes’ characters. This never came to fruition, much to the disappointment of every queer person who was anticipating the film’s release. Instead, it features two dull and unconvincing romantic subplots, completely discredited by the undeniable chemistry between the two lead characters, that was never fulfilled. The wlw relationship between Eleanor and Gabbi (Talia Ryder) felt like representation for the sake of it rather than adding anything to the development of narrative or characterisation. What’s more, is that their plotline had only a fraction of the intimacy that was shown in Drea’s heterosexual romance.
Instead, it features two dull and unconvincing romantic subplots, completely discredited by the undeniable chemistry between the two lead characters, that was never fulfilled
In all, the film goes beyond a complete pastiche of the high school movies of the 90s and early 2000s that we all know and love but lacks the quotability and social message to secure its place as an iconic cultural moment like Mean Girls (2004) or Clueless (1995), for example. I’m sure I’m not the only one feeling that Netflix promised more than it delivered this time.
Do Revenge is now streaming on Netflix.
