by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
Few subgenres are as ripe for constant updating as the teen comedies — particularly with how fast culture is moving these days.
Netflix decided to take a stab at the formula with their new release, Do Revenge, and it comes off pretty well. Our story follows a pair of girls at an exclusive prep school. We’re first introduced to Drea (Camila Mendes), a student without the same affluences as her peers, who finds her meticulously manicured reputation undone by a leaked video, and is on the outside looking in with the popular kids. An encounter with the new kid at school, Eleanor (Maya Hawke), who’s got a score of her own to settle with one of the other students, leads the duo to combine forces to enact each other’s revenge.
Everything about this movie says it knows exactly what it is, and that really works in its favor. It feels exactly like a film that should have Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Eilish on its soundtrack, and you’ll never guess who gets a needle drop in this film. It knows it’s a teen movie and calls itself out for playing the hits; you get the clique tour and the makeover scene. However, it throws in enough surprises to keep it feeling fresh. The film is aided immensely by its setting. Whereas some of the dialogue may have come off as maybe a little too on-the-nose, imagining these people being this out of touch and entitled doesn’t feel out of the realm of possibility. It allows the film to get away with its absurdity. The high-end locale also allows for the film to absolutely bathe in high-end glamour and fashion, and the cinematography takes full advantage. It looks fantastic.
Both Mendes and Hawke are supremely charismatic as our leads. The movie gets us to empathize with each of them about their respective revenge trips to go on this wild ride with them. Aside from just being about their thirst for vengeance, there’s a commentary about double standards between men and women that helps get you even more on their side. What happened to each of them does suck, so we’re willing to go along with this fictionalized vigilante justice (while recognizing how messed up it is). If those performances aren’t what they are, that doesn’t work. Through all the twists and turns, you’re sort of willing to go along with the ride because they’re having so much fun. My exposure to each of them is fairly limited. Not having watched Riverdale, Mendes is known only to me from her supporting role in Palm Springs,and Hawke’s just started to build out her filmography in recent years — though admittedly, how much I enjoy her in Stranger Thingswas a draw. They’re both giving really fun performances that make me intrigued to see what other projects they might have down the road.
Aside from our lead duo, everybody knows exactly what kind of movie they’re in and play their part well. There are even a couple of fun casting choices. Sarah Michelle Gellar is great in her role as the school’s headmaster, and perhaps nobody is having as much fun as Sophie Turner in her brief role.
Is Do Revenge just a fresh coat of paint on a story you’ve seen a million times? Sure. But that coat of paint looks spectacular, and you had a fun time with the people you painted with. So that new coat will work just fine.
Rating 7/10
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