In the '90s, there was a brief, but memorable run of teen movies that took their plots from classic literature. "Clueless" was "Emma," "10 Things I Hate About You" was "Taming of the Shrew," and "Cruel Intentions" was "Dangerous Liaisons," all set in high school. So, naturally a throwback to these movies should follow their lead. "Do Revenge," written and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, is very loosely based on Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train," spruced up a bit for the age of social media, with a soundtrack full of '90s pop songs, and fashion choices that Cher Horowitz would die for.
At the same time, "Do Revenge" is a very 2020s teen movie, featuring actors from a wide array of current teen franchises. Our main character, Drea Torres, is played by Camila Mendes from "Riverdale." Her boyfriend Max is Austin Abrams from "Euphoria," and bestie Tara is Alisha Boe from "13 Reasons Why." And who is that new girl, Eleanor, soon to be Drea's partner in crime? Maya Hawke, naturally, from "Stranger Things." They all attend the ultra posh prep school, Rosehill, overseen by a lovely headmaster, who happens to be played by "Cruel Intentions" alum Sarah Michelle Gellar - none too subtly hinting where this story is going.
Drea is the school's queen bee, until a leaked sex video brings her low. Her boyfriend Max was probably responsible, but he's protected by seemingly impenetrable white male privilege, and Drea's angry retaliation against him just lands her in hot water. Stewing in exile from her former social circle, Drea befriends the mousy Eleanor, who is not looking forward to starting at a new school with Carissa (Ava Capri), the girl who outed her as a lesbian and branded her a predator four years ago. Drea sees an opportunity to use Eleanor to infiltrate her old friend group, and promises to help her ruin Carissa's life. Will they become revenge besties together, or allow their bitterness to turn them against each other?
Everyone in this movie is status obsessed and identity conscious. Drea is a person of color, which doesn't matter, but being a scholarship student with no money does. She's gotten as far as she has by being very gifted and very vicious. Max is a scumbag, but very good at playing up feminist ally bona fides, and has access to expensive lawyers in a pinch. Initially, I was wary that the film would be entirely populated by amoral monsters, because I wasn't keen on rooting for any of them, but I think it's actually one of the film's strengths that it keeps you guessing about Drea's redeemability for so long. Camila Mendes makes her hateable one minute, and admirable the next, sometimes for the exact same behavior. It's not hard to see why lonely Eleanor is willing to let her take over her life and fashion choices. Maya Hawke steals the movie, by the way, because of course she does.
And after all, who can say no to a little revenge? The machinations going on here are sometimes a little haphazardly executed, but the twists and turns are a lot of fun. Rosehill is a heightened world where everyone is decked out in matching uniforms or ungodly expensive outfits, there's money for every imaginable extracurricular, and the students throw elaborate, hedonistic parties at the drop of a hat. Drea and Eleanor's revenges are also beautifully deployed, amazingly timed events that will leave you cackling with glee at their cleverness and bitchiness. It helps that the script is also very aware that Drea and Elenor are terrible, and they both have to face their demons in the end.
"Do Revenge" is a better looking production than most of the Netflix originals. Sure, there's iffy editing here and there, and probably too much cribbed from other movies, but "Do Revenge" sells the fantasy of this opulent high school world where you can run everything if you're smart enough or rich enough. The last couple of twists may be a bridge too far (I suspect there was originally a different ending), and some of the indulgences - like recreating the date sequence from "10 Things I Hate About You" - are a little too indulgent. Still, I enjoyed "Do Revenge" like few movies this year.
And the great irony is, I wasn't much of a fan of '90s teen movies when I was actually the target audience for them. It's only now, looking back, that I understand more of the appeal.
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