Do You Know What Makes A Great Teen Movie? - Do Revenge Review
Mean Girls, Revenge, and lesbians…Oh My!
Do Revenge, the latest from director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Someone Great, Sweet/Vicious), is a dark comedy that attempts to replicate the vibe of classic teen movies from the ’80s, ‘90s and early 2000s era but for a modern 2020s audience. It is a film full of callbacks to these movies, a popping style, and the typical characters you come to expect from a teen movie but, unfortunately, it falls short of being allowed to sit with the greats.
The film follows the story of Drea (Camila Mendes) and Eleanor (Maye Hawke) two teenagers looking for revenge against those who have wronged them. Unable to be connected due to their opposing social circles the girls decide to team up to “do” revenge on each other’s tormentors. Their path to revenge soon leaves them with more than they bargained for.
There are a few great things about Do Revenge. The diverse casting gives a realistic representation of the world we live in, the cinematic references to older teen movies such as Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You, Clueless, Mean Girls…(legit there are so many nods to Mean Girls in this) are fun for fans of those classics, the costumes and sets are embody one of those Instagram places where every corner is a perfect picture waiting to be taken, and the performances by the entire cast are super strong. However, whilst the film had a promising start it slowly loses its panash as it progresses.
The diverse casting is so refreshing to see, particularly in a teen movie, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was like this so the filmmakers could be patted on the back. There were inclusions here and there of generally “woke” topics that didn’t feel naturally included or like they were trying to comment on them in an interesting way. The other thing that felt off for me was the unrealistic representation of teenage lives. All the characters are meant to be around 17 and whilst it’s made apparent that most of them are rich they are all walking around in wardrobes that look professionally styled, they pop bottles of champagne, and snort cocaine like they’ve been doing it for years. This felt off for Drea especially, who is meant to be attending this private school on scholarship with her mum working constantly to try to pay for their lifestyle; which brings me to my next point of unrealistic representation. There are no parents included in the entire film. We never see the students learning in a classroom (I think they sit in a classroom but no actual learning occurs). And the only speaking adult seen in the film is the Principle of the school.
Part of what makes previous teen films great is that the characters are held accountable by the adults in the story. In Do Revenge the teenagers are left to run wild. At school, at home, on the weekends, in the mall. It is pure fantasy, which I suppose is a choice, but it’s unbelievable and so the film loses some of the poignancy that other teen films have. For example, try to imagine Easy A without the parents or teachers. Would it hit the same? I wouldn’t be so strongly trying to compare Do Revenge to other teen movies if it hadn’t made it so obvious that its intention was to be the classic teen movie for the modern age.
So let’s talk about the characters. A lot of the supporting cast feel very samey. They don’t have distinctive personalities and instead just spout the culturally relevant lines that place us in 2022. The strongest characters are Eleanor who has the biggest character arc out of everyone, Drea’s ex-boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams) who plays a douchebag very well, and Erica (Sophie Turner) whose small energic part in the story almost steals the entire movie. Drea’s character unfortunately lets down the story the most. She is meant to be a mean girl but we are never really shown her being that horrible to anybody until after she has her sex tape released. At that point, to an audience member, it feels kind of justified for her to be acting out against people. I think this is so the twist can happen at the end but we lose a lot of her development as she doesn’t have that far to grow as a character despite the plot trying to tell us she does.
It could have also leaned heavier into the darker side of the comedy. For a film with Revenge in the title, it lacks a lot of punch. I was hoping it would spiral into absolute chaos like Jawbreaker or Heathers but it never really pushes the envelope that much. Plus it doesn’t really have a lot to say in general about being a teenager in today’s modern age. For example; Easy A broaches the conversation of sexual promiscuity and makes comment on how being sexually active as a teenager shouldn’t be vilified. Mean Girls says a lot about women supporting other women and being kind because how you’re perceived means nothing if you have no true friends. Heathers whilst dark makes huge comments about adolescent mental health. Do Revenge tells us to not do revenge but then also maybe do revenge because some people deserve to be punished but mainly guys and not lesbians?
As the credits rolled I was conflicted as to whether I’d had fun watching the film or not. There were definitely moments when I was laughing but overall it just didn’t hit the mark for me. Do Revenge doesn’t carve out its own unique path. It’s focused far too much on being aesthetic, including the right cultural aspects, and nailing those film references. There was potential here though and whilst it could very much be that I haven’t been a teenager for 10 years and so wasn’t the intended audience I would hope that the teenagers of today hold their films to a higher standard.
