Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: Drea and Eleanor agree to go after one another’s bullies.
Review: What happens when you take iconic movies like Heathers, Cruel Intentions and Mean Girls and put them through a modern-day PG-13 blender? You’ll probably get a movie that looks a lot like this one.
Do Revenge gets points for taking a lot of the tropes found in these types of “made for teens” and twisting things in…mostly unexpected ways. The performances of leads Camila Mendes (Riverdale) as Drea Torres, a popular but poor (because that’s a problem in this movie) student whose boyfriend leaks a sexy video she made for him costing her that sweet sweet school cred. She meets another teen named Eleanor played by Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) who also has a bone to pick with the popular kids as she claims one of them outed her as gay and accused her of trying to kiss her. All this is to say they decide to pull a Strangers on a Train maneuver (great movie if you haven’t seen it) and take out each other’s targets so as to not risk being expelled from school.
I was genuinely surprised by how funny most of this movie is. The comedy gets darker as more of the story is revealed and for the most part the plot is quite unpredictable. The visuals, locations and costume designs like the school uniforms are all brightly coloured, which actually works well as a juxtaposition to how crazy the story truly is. And the leads remaining engaging from beginning to end.
That said, Do Revenge struggles to stick the landing. There’s a huge exposition dump that wraps things up in the final act and it made everything feel rushed. You could tell the writers couldn’t quite figure out how to end things, and considering all that came before it came across like they were scared to go all the way dark with it. There were also some aspects that may come across like I’m nitpicking but they stuck out enough to make an impact on me. For instance, I think I saw exactly one adult at this school and that would be the headmistress and woman who’s aging like the vampires she once hunted, Sarah Michelle Gellar. She plays the headmistress, and while she has only a handful of scenes she manages to leave you wishing she was in every shot. Then there’s the boyfriend character/popular guy everyone wants. I’m a full grown adult so my opinion probably doesn’t matter, but I honestly don’t see this guy’s appeal. Like, at all. He looks like a shaved hobbit to me, but to each his own I guess.
Anyways, Do Revenge is a perfect fit for those who enjoy these types of teenage revenge flicks that have somehow become a genre of their own. It’s beautifully shot, well-paced and directed with solid performances by its two lead actresses. The ending stops it from being as memorable as some of the more iconic ones but there’s enough here to make viewing enjoyable.
Score: 6.5 out of 10
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Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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