Do Revenge – Strangers On A Train Teen Style! [REVIEW]

When watching the trailer for Netflix’s new teen comedy, Do Revenge I thought, “Fun! Strangers on a Train for Teens.” Then, I watched it and it is so much more! Camila Mendes (Riverdale) and Mia Hawke (Stranger Things) star in the revenge comedy and carry the film effortlessly together. It’s been a while since we’ve truly had a vicious teen comedy. I’m sure this is me showing my generation, but I miss the time of the underdog taking down the assholes. School isn’t perfect. It’s not magically sunshine and rainbows with no bullies. Even if we make films where the hierarchy doesn’t exist, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

DO REVENGE GETS SO MUCH RIGHT

Mendes plays Drea, a girl who comes from nothing but goes to a prestigious prep school on scholarship. Over the years she has become the IT girl with popular friends while also dating the most popular guy in school (Austin Abrams). After filming a particularly spicy video for her boyfriend, he ends up leaking it to the entire school. Does he get in trouble? Absolutely, not. She can’t prove it.

Over the summer at tennis camp, Drea meets Eleanore (Hawke), an outcast herself who will be going to her school in the fall. However, we learn that Eleanore’s summer camp bully goes to the same school. So, the girls hatch a plan to take down each other’s foes while forging their best friendship in the process.

Do Revenge is wildly aware of itself, quoting iconic films while also being as Gen-Z as possible. Mendes and Hawke are fantastic together. If they weren’t this entire film would fail. I appreciate the commentary, the quips, and the twist. This is a story we all know well, but the film manages to make it all it’s own. Not to mention, it has a killer soundtrack filled with icon teen movie songs of the past.

WHAT IT’S MISSING

The comedy. While I found Do Revenge to be fun and entertaining it was lacking in laughter. These girls are doing something ridiculous, and have incredible moments, but I found myself looking at it through the lens of a wanna-be dark comedy, that falls flat on the comedy part.

This might be in part of the runtime. When did 2hrs become the standard for movies? A Teen Comedy doesn’t need to be longer than 90 mins. Anything more comes across as self-indulgent with a sluggish pace. Outside of that, I really did enjoy Do Revenge. Make sure to check it out on Netflix!

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