By Crystal Wang '25
*Spoilers Alert!!!
Photo Courtesy of IMDb
Do you ever wonder what movies like Heathers and Mean Girls want to be when they grow up? The answer is Do Revenge. Released by Netflix on September 16th of 2022, Do Revenge is an ode to teen romcoms with a Gen Z twist. And I, a humble lesbian who admittedly only watched it for Maya Hawke, was blown away by this movie.
Let me set the stage: one of our main characters, Drea (played by Camila Mendes), had her sex taped leaked by her ex-boyfriend, Max. She then teams up with other main character Eleanor (played by my lord and savior Maya Hawke) to “do revenge.” The plan was for Eleanor to exact revenge on Max and for Drea to exact revenge on Carissa, the girl that Eleanor claimed outed her and accused her of sexual assault when she was 13. However, halfway through the movie, a surprise twist reveals that Drea was the one who had outed Eleanor and she had been planning her downfall for the entire movie. What can only be described as illegal shenanigans occur and the movie ends with both women realizing that the friendship they had cultivated throughout the movie was real, both had grown as people and they decide to stop the cycle of revenge on each other. Max is still a piece of crap, however, and they do, in fact, exact revenge on him.
I had thought this movie would be okay at best, one of a million highschool teen movies put out by Netflix, but I was oh so wrong. Firstly, if anyone says they saw that twist coming, they’re lying. I consider it my favorite past-time to over analyze movies starring lesbain characters and I did not see that twist coming. It speaks to the phenomenal acting from both Hawke and Mendes. On rewatch, all the signs were there but could have so easily been written off as nothing. This is the best type of twist, built upon so it doesn’t come out of nowhere but subtle enough that it will be missed until the reveal. The plot was coherent, and all the plotlines connected with no loopholes to be seen. And unlike many other teen movies, the issues in this movie are real issues. Being a pretty white girl who is just really tall is not a real issue, Tall Girl. You know what is an issue? Revenge porn. Being outed. A lesbian being seen as a predator. This movie was a great blend of serious and overdramatically funny.
Photo Courtesy of Variety
Most of the appeal comes in how over the top this movie is. It’s so camp and unhinged and I love it. Everything from the costuming to the soundtrack was just so tailored to the target audience. The lavender and mint green of the school uniforms fit so well together. The outfits Drea and Eleanor both wear are so dramatic and it enhances the visual appeal of this movie. The soundtrack is also so tailored towards the target audience. Everything from “For The Girls” by Hayley Kyoko (Lesbian Jesus herself) and Olivia Rodrigo’s “Brutal” to “Silk Chiffon” by MUNA and Phoebe Bridgers. This movie truly was made for the girls and the gays.
And of course we can’t review a movie without talking about the ending. The only way to describe it was cathartic. Do Revenge employs a lot of the suspended disbelief that many other teen movies take advantage of. At the end of the day, the villain is taken care of and both main characters get their happy ending with their love interest while remaining best friends. But the thing that stands out about Do Revenge is the complexity of its two main characters. They are fundamentally still bad people at the end of the movie but despite that, the audience is still rooting for them. The two of them ruined a few mostly innocent lives and never truly faced the consequences. However, the movie has made them so likable that I don’t even care. They embody gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss, and I love that for them.
Photo Courtesy of IMDb
My one and only gripe is that for a movie marketed to be a sapphic romance, the sapphics spent very little time doing sapphic things. I thought Drea and Eleanor were going to end up falling in love with each other; this was hinted at during all of the trailers and ads. It’s not that I don’t love Gabbi (she slayed all 5 minutes of screen time that she got) but I do wish she either got more time or Eleanor ended up with Drea. If you’re going to market it as a sapphic film, give me a sapphic film.
That being said, Do Revenge is dramatic, it’s camp, and it’s serious enough to make you actually care. It’s an instant classic and I can see it going up on the same wall of fame as Heathers and Mean Girls.