Netflix’s newest dark comedy “Do Revenge” released on Sept. 16. The film, loosely based on Alfred Hitchcock’s “Strangers on a Train” is full of unexpected twists, turns and a side of revenge.
“Riverdale’s” Camila Mendes and “Stranger Things’” Maya Hawke team up in Gen Z’s ode to the classic teen film. Directed by “Someone Great’s” Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the film borrows classic elements from “Heathers,” “Mean Girls” and “Clueless” to bring nostalgia to any viewer.
The movie follows Drea Torres (Mendes), a hard-working scholarship student at a hoity-toity private school. She sits at the top of the social pyramid at school and is a shoe-in for a Yale scholarship until her boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams) leaks a sex tape she sent him. After her principal (Sarah Michelle Gellar) threatens her with expulsion and her friends abandon her, Torres must find a new way to retaliate against those who have wronged her. After meeting new friend and classmate Eleanor (Hawke), who reveals that her own rival goes to their school, the two team up to “do” the other’s revenge.
The film also features young stars such as Ava Capri, Talia Ryder, Rish Shah, Jonathan Daviss and Paris Berelc.
The use of music in “Do Revenge” is enough to have Shazam prepped for the film’s almost two-hour runtime. The film opens with Olivia Rodrigos’s “Brutal” and features tracks such as Hole’s rock anthem “Celebrity Skin,” Mazie’s upbeat “Dumb Dumb” and Billie Eilish’s breakup anthem “Happier Than Ever,” just to name a few. The tunes elevate the movie in an excellent way and highlight Gen Z’s love of past and present hits.
“Do Revenge” proves to be very inclusive and very queer. Hawke’s character Eleanor is a queer teen who does not need a coming out story, which is refreshing for a teen film.
“From the first moment, Eleanor is pretty comfortable with her sexuality and is therefore given license to have a story arc that has nothing to do with her sexuality — which, for women, no matter what your sexual preference is, or the preferences of your character, is rare,” Hawke said in an interview. “Usually the stories hinge upon your sexuality in one way or another.”
With an 86% and certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has garnered the liking of many critics. “As if born out of obsessive rewatches of ‘Cruel Intentions’ and ‘Mean Girls,’ ‘Do Revenge’ is a subversive, foul-mouthed teen comedy that goes to some pretty vile and depraved places,” said Sarah Michelle Fetters of MovieFreak.com
While “Do Revenge” feels like a camp retelling of a 90’s teen movie, it is enough to garner praise and attention from the likes of its target audience and nostalgia-filled people of all ages. Although its main themes revolve around revenge, at its core is a story about young friendship, love and all of the ups and downs it entails.
