When Netflix announced their new movie “Do revenge” earlier this year the response was sceptical at best and downright dismissive at worst. Netflix doesn’t have the best reputation in terms of teen movies with the one of the biggest and most hated being “The Kissing Booth.” Then there was of course the presence of Camilla Mendes who plays Drea Torres in the movie. She is best known for her role in Riverdale as Veronica, which is heavily criticised for being incredibly cringe-worthy. Many people felt as though this was Netflix’s tragic attempt to make a sort of Gen Z Mean Girls sure to fail miserably. It was bound to flop.
But then it didn’t.
Many fans have dubbed it a masterpiece and one of the best teen dark comedies to come out recently and I agree. The film had many references to 90’s teen classics and of course the general Mean Girls vibe that comes with this sort of genre. Although at the beginning she was a source of doubt, Camilla Mendes’s performance as Drea Torres was amazing. She really brought life to the character. Stranger Things star Maya Hawke also delivered a spectacular performance as Elenore, bringing memorable “Glennergy” to the character. Her and Camilla’s chemistry on screen left little to be desired as both of them work together to carry out each other’s revenge. There were many other recognizable characters in the show including a cameo from Sophie Turner that made me laugh the hardest I ever had in a while.
Although the movie itself seems to be inspired by 90’s and 2000’s movies the dialogue and framing give the movie a uniquely Gen Z feel. We see the colourful uniforms inspired by the “Clueless” wardrobe, the oh-so-popular makeover scene as well as the introduction of the cliques, a trope in both Mean Girls and 10 Things I Hate About You. However, instead of jocks and preps, we have “Instagram witches’ and “the Greta Thunberg brigade”. The dialogue uses a lot of Gen z slang, we see a lot of speech patterns and references used by this generation. And the best part? Do revenge manages to replicate this without making it cringy as hell. I was able to watch the movie without wincing at every line. The most interesting change from the Teen Drama genre was the fact that Max, our main villain, wasn’t a jock. He was instead a jewellery-wearing, nail-painting soft boy who presented himself as an ally to women while still being able to leak his girlfriend’s sex tape. This offers amazing commentary on false allyship as well as the double standards presented in a revenge porn scenario.
Director, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, says she was inspired by the Alfred Hitchcock movie, Strangers On a Train but switched the men out for two teenage girls. Giving this Hitchcockian-style movie a candy-coated twist something along the lines of Jawbreaker. With the number of plot twists, this movie throws your way you’ll never know what to expect.
Do revenge is a fun, pleasant movie to come out of Netflix. The dark comedy has an amazing cast, a stellar soundtrack and such interesting premises even if you don’t think it’s a masterpiece, I for one can definitely see it becoming a cult classic.