Supporting Women’s Wrongs: A Love Letter to Netflix’s ‘Do Revenge’

Clueless. 10 Things I Hate About You. Heathers.

All classic movies that have my heart forever. The '90s and early naughties gave tween and teen millennials some classics that our generation (gen Z) grew up with and embraced as though they were ours. However, we never really had similar movies that were made with us in mind. That is until this year, or more specifically, until Do Revenge.

*this analysis/ deep dive/ expression of my adoration will not be spoiler-free, therefore, proceed at your own risk.

Available on Netflix and directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Do Revenge is gen z's first true dark comedy teen movie. It stars Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke as our two [pro/an]tagonists, with the supporting cast featuring Austin Abrams, Rish Sha, Sarah Michelle Geller, Alisha Boe, Paris Berelc, Sophie Turner and Talia Ryder. For an avid pop-culture enthusiast such as myself, every character's introduction prompted a mini-game of "where do I know you from?" between myself and IMDb. You might recognise Sarah Michelle Gellar from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (1997-2003) but her involvement in this movie is made more iconic by her involvement in the 1999 classic, Cruel Intentions. For director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Gellar was a dream get. And having watched the movie at least 5 times now, I completely understand why. Both films share significant tonal similarities and highlight the scheming minds of well-to-do teens. Additionally, the director also stated that she wanted the Headmaster to feel a little like a grown-up version of Kathryn Merteuil - Gellar's character in Cruel Intentions. Kathryn is among many things, 'exquisitely manipulative' in a way Drea Torres and Eleanor Levetan/ Nora Cutler can only dream of being. This is made canon through the involvement of a purely gen-z linguistic feature - using violent and aggressive language when discussing people we admire or love. In a way that would be funny only to fellow zillennials, there is a scene where Drea and Eleanor speak about the Headmaster [played by Gellar] in this way and at some point, Eleanor says, "I want her to hit me with her Tesla and then reverse back over me." My personal favourite moment is her following up with "I want her to hide my body in the woods and then start the search party trying to find me." Now, unless you've spent some time on the superfan/ 'stan' side of Twitter, this would go completely over your head.

I SUPPORT WOMEN'S RIGHTS AS WELL AS THEIR WRONGS

If you were in the mood for morally upstanding characters, chill vibes and role models, this is not the movie for you. As someone whose favourite movie genre is hot women doing bad things ala Ocean's 8, I love it here. The opening scene is underscored by Hayley Kioko's 'For the Girls' and a car number plate that reads 'DUMBTCH' paying homage to Jawbreaker and the character Vylette’s license plate that says 'BITCH'. As the camera pans out we are met with a stunning font in an equally stunning bubblegum pink, a mansion and helium balloons with Drea's face on them. The tone and vibe you should expect are set within the first few minutes of this film. This movie sets itself apart with a brilliant plot and some engaging performances from its cast whilst simultaneously paying tribute to the movies that came before it. In more ways than one, the teen movies of the '90s walked so that Do Revenge could sashay. Robinson told Netflix's Tudum, “I wanted everything to be subverted and almost fold into itself. I also wanted to have fun. This movie is a wink, this movie is camp." The references to the movies that came before it are in no way accidental instead they are little inside jokes for its dream audience - lovers of the classic teen movie. Clueless (1995) and Cruel Intentions are described as the cornerstone inspirations for this film by director and writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.

As the scene progresses, we learn that we are at the birthday party of Drea Torres (Camila Mendes) and that though she is adjacent to wealth, she comes from humble beginnings. Her best friend Tara (Alisha Boe) is the financier of this extravagant gathering before us. Hold on to that information, we will discuss this dynamic later. We are promptly introduced to the rest of the group; a bunch of racially diverse albeit privileged teens that refer to themselves as a family but always appear as though they are mere minutes away from making out. One thing about Do Revenge is, it delivers on sexual chemistry.

Gabbi, played by Talia Ryder later describes the clique to Eleanor as, "Rosehill's royal court, a group of people all as calculated as they are beautiful".

Drea learns that one of their classmates, Allegra, titled the 'Instagram witch' has been gossiping about her shopping at thrift stores. As payback, whilst delivering her birthday speech, she switches the narrative and traps Allegra into an act of charity she simply can't refuse. We then are introduced to Drea's seemingly supportive and perfect boyfriend, Max Broussard. The man who will leak Drea's sex tape in the next 24 hours because he can't handle her shining brighter than he does.

"I FLEW TOO CLOSE TO THE SUN SO MY BOYFRIEND LEAKED MY SEX TAPE"

The character of Max Broussard is as fascinating as he is punchable. I would describe him as Harry Styles and Timothee Chalamet's evil lovechild. Unlike the main love interests of other films, he is entirely curated for the female gaze. He isn't broad-shouldered or incredibly muscly, he regularly sports coloured nail polish, is affectionate with his male best friend and isn't afraid to wear effeminate clothing styles or soft colours. If a safe space for women could be personified it would probably look like Max. But it wouldn't actually be Max. He is a serial cheater, credits himself with Drea's rise to popularity and despises her for outshining him. His pretentious behaviour does not end there - he also sees himself as being above the popularity and wealth he would destroy someone to maintain.

Max very obviously sees himself as the centre of everyone else's universe. He is obsessed with the idea of others being obsessed with him. Maybe that is why he cheats on Drea and then Tara with a person from each clique at the school – it's a genius way to ensure that he always has someone in his corner in all the major groups at the school. Additionally, their social distance reduces the chances of them talking to or finding out about each other. It's very much giving John Tucker Must Die energy.

Let's bring Rosehill's royal court back because, for the majority of this movie, they are obsessed with him. It's like he is the sun around which they orbit. When Drea [rightfully] punches Max in the face for lying about leaking her sex tape, they all side with him, touting her actions as dramatic and "putting them all in an awkward position". Never mind that they treat her as a social pariah and that Tara starts dating Max because their families summered together in Capri. He is the villain that apparently only Drea sees; he maintains his position of senior class president, makes it into Drea's dream school [Yale] and is the subject of a sympathetic piece in the school newsletter about an on-campus "public assault". Max's power in his and Drea's lives is made obvious again and again in this film. In a moment, he takes away the friendship group he introduced her to and leaves her without a support system at a time when she needs it the most. He is also the reason she loses her chance to go to Yale [they learn about her punching him].

‘Brutal’ by Olivia Rodrigo underscores the introduction to our other main character Eleanor Levetan/ Nora Cutler. Side note: this movie has one of the best soundtracks of any film I have ever seen. The official Spotify playlist is all I've listened to since I found it. Featured artists include Hayley Kioko, Olivia Rodrigo, ROSALIA, Billie Eilish and mazie. One of my favourite tidbits I learnt about Robinson is that she regularly listened to Sour and Reputation whilst she wrote scripts and directed scenes. "I feel like Sour is a very 'Do Revenge' record" she went on to say.

During the hilariously chaotic scene when Drea and Eleanor drug the senior class, you can hear ‘Kids in America’ playing, the same song that Clueless (1995) opens to. In the same scene, Allegra uses her shoe as a phone to call her mum so she can pick her up, similar to a moment in Mean Girls (2004) when someone calls their mother to do the same in the chaos following the Burn Book pages being released. In these and many other ways, this movie perfectly references the classics that came before it. I've seen commentary saying Do Revenge should stop trying to replicate classic films it can never live up to. I disagree. I do not believe that Do Revenge was trying to be anything it is not. This movie is our generation's equivalent of the films that came before it. Cruel Intentions, Clueless, Heathers, Jawbreaker, Mean Girls – every single one of these films paved the way for the attitude we now describe as gaslight, gatekeep and girl boss. Do Revenge's Eleanor and Drea perfectly personify and even define those attributes. Much like the Bella Hadid x Coperni moment signalled that fashion was back, this film [and Look Both Ways] signalled that movies are good again. The film also contains a dark humour comedy style and some plot absurdity I don't believe has been successfully attempted in some time.

"SHE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!!"

Take Sophie Turner's appearance as Erica Norman. She had an approximate total screen time of 15 minutes if we're being generous, yet I would argue that this was one of the best performances of her career. Essentially, some girls at the tennis camp Drea coaches at [I know, must be nice] are sharing her leaked sex tape. She is told by Eleanor (falsely) that the instigator is Erica and so she plants some cocaine on her then reports it, leading to Erica’s very dramatic exit from the tennis camp. This scene is so iconic that in the week following my first three viewings of this film I would just yell, "I don't do cocaine!" out of the blue, simply because of how funny I found it. We later learn that this *ahem* scandal caused Erica to be admitted into a very fancy rehabilitation facility, lose her scholarship to Stanford and develop an actual coke problem. Once again, this is the kind of dark humour I love to see. Something that comes up again and again, is how different the world is for working-class women of colour like Drea as opposed to upper-class white women for example Erica Norman and later on Carissa Jones. This difference is highlighted for example in the tone shift when Eleanor threatens to plant drugs on Drea's mom - a trick we should point out she learnt from the Erica Norman situation. Drea is a Latinx scholarship kid with a single mother who works night shifts - the prospect of her mother losing her job would ensure the breakdown of both of their lives. We can assume that the same cannot be said for her classmates and their parents. For them, a drug scandal would be nothing more than a minor blip in the road.

Drea's peers live in a completely different world. Her ex-boyfriend's father is the financial sponsor for her ex-best friend's father's political campaign. Like c'mon people. Planting a *hard* drug like cocaine on Erica whilst socially embarrassing doesn't really have criminal or legal consequences. The same goes for Carissa; she was growing marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms on school property yet all she gets is a mandated stay at a rich people spa… sorry... a rehabilitation facility. When faced with the possibility of owning up to drugging the entire senior class, Drea laments about how different her consequences would be from Carissa's. And she's right. Whilst other cult classic teen films may not have addressed racial inequality or the privileges that come from being white or wealthy; Do Revenge doesn't ignore the elephant in the room. Drea's race is a constant talking point in the movie in the same way that my race is a constant talking point in my life. Pretending not to see colour does not serve people whose life is constantly affected by it. Plus, nothing is funnier to me than weaponizing your race for comedy e.g. "is it because I'm black?" Or Drea's, "Sage. You're not trying to diminish the hard work of a fellow woman of colour, are you?" delivered after hearing someone say she only received her Teen Vogue award since she attends Rosehill on a scholarship.

"NARCISISSTS ARE TOO BUSY THINKING ABOUT THEMSELVES TO REALISE THEY'RE BEING PLAYED"

A subtle reference to Election (1999) and the plot twist this entire movie revolves around. After the obviously problematic but also incredibly fun-to-watch makeover scene [loved the self-awareness here], we hear Drea say this to Eleanor about Max. Eleanor later says this to Drea because ladies and gentlemen, she has been playing all of us this entire time. When I say that Do Revenge is an ode to women's wrongs, I mean it. Eleanor frames Carissa for a crime that Drea committed in the first place. And she uses Drea to do it! In essence, the long game was to punish Carissa for "retreating back into the closet" when Eleanor needed her most and finally expose Drea for the horrible person she is. Though Drea has been without a doubt wronged by Max, she is in no way an innocent bystander. In fact, after some deliberation and numerous re-watches, I think the only truly innocent characters of this film are Gabbi and Russ - Eleanor and Drea's respective love interests. An interesting point for another day.

Russ is the manic pixie dream boy that is as wholesome as he appears to be. Gabbi is the personification of lesbian TikTok's dream girl: she's effortlessly cool, self-assured, witty and wealthy but not obnoxious about it. Whilst Max likes to wax poetic about how much of a burden his wealth and popularity are to him, Gabbi acts like a normal human being and apart from her mentioning a 'home cinema' she doesn't make being from a wealthy family her entire personality trait.

THIS ISN'T YOUR ARMOUR ANYMORE IT'S JUST YOU

"Eleanor. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that.

I really thought I was different than them.

Every time I did something mean, I told myself, 'This isn't me. This is just who I have to be to survive.' But that was a f*cking lie. It was just a story I told myself to make myself feel better about the fact that I was just a toxic b*tch."

Both Drea and Eleanor developed their mean-girl personalities out of an entirely valid protective instinct. Drea learned to offend before she had to defend because that's the reality for a scholarship kid who shops second-hand and attends a school for the spawn of the 1%. Eleanor [or Nora] went through a traumatic experience and so created an entirely new personality intending to get revenge on those that had hurt her. However, by the last quarter of the film, we start to realise that this isn't a character either of them is playing anymore. They have become these manipulative, judgemental and unforgiving people.

Neither of these two characters is innocent or in the right. Between Eleanor deliberately crashing into Drea in her car to Drea exposing Eleanor's true identity I truly don't know who committed fewer wrongs or if there was meant to be a side we could morally support. I wholeheartedly believe that was the whole point of this film. Our protagonists embody the themes of 'gaslight, gatekeep and girl boss to the nth degree. I also love that despite them both having love interests in this film, the true love story is between them. This movie is about two and I quote, "f*cked up soulmates* finding each other and themselves. Once again, a fitting parallel to Cruel Intentions… just without the incest.

I could continue on waxing poetic about how much I love this film and why but alas, I have to stop typing at some point. I will take a moment though to summarise my thoughts. I loved the costuming of this film; the aesthetic was so carefully chosen and every single snapshot of a scene embodies it perfectly. I will be taking style inspiration from this film ever after. The casting is impeccable and everyone should get more praise for their work in this film. The writing is honestly some of the best I have seen - it was dramatic and cutting and witty and oh-so iconic. The music was perfect for every scene and it all tied together so beautifully. Every reference to a past film, a celebrity or a cultural phenomenon was so well done but not in a way that will age the movie unnecessarily. Put simply, I love this movie. As that iconic tweet says; "I support women's rights. But I also support women's wrongs. I love when they do bad things." Better yet, I love when they do revenge.

make revenge mommy proud,

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