Hello, hello!
Today we’re talking about a Netflix release that I added to my to-watch list the moment it was announced. And then I promptly forgot about it. No better time to remedy this than now!
The Plot (according to Rotten Tomatoes):
Drea (Camila Mendes) is at the peak of her high school powers as the Alpha it-girl on campus when her entire life goes up in flames after her sex tape gets leaked to the whole school, seemingly by her boyfriend and king of the school, Max (Austin Abrams). Eleanor (Maya Hawke) is an awkward new transfer student who is angered to find out that she now has to go to school with her old bully, Carissa (Ava Capri) who started a nasty rumor about her in summer camp when they were 13. After a clandestine run-in at tennis camp, Drea and Eleanor form an unlikely and secret friendship to get revenge on each other’s tormentors.
The Rating:
I’ll say right of the gate that this wasn’t the best revenge flick I’ve ever seen but it definitely was entertaining.
Let’s talk first about the positive things. I have no qualms with any of the acting performances. What is it about Maya Hawke that just makes her so perfect in the role of sad lesbian? And Camila Mendes was born to play a total bitch that somehow has a heart of gold. However, as good as the acting was, we need to talk about the casting a bit later. The aesthetic of this movie was to die for. I love the pastel color scheme! The soundtrack is just as good. There are so many songs that I already love or that I immediately had to Shazam.
The story was pretty decent for the most part – we’ll talk about what I didn’t like in a little bit. But for now, let me tell you that this is certainly a nod to a lot of famous revenge/high school flicks that came before Do Revenge. The film is definitely skirting the edge of paying homage and copying clichés but I think it was really well done for the most part. I, furthermore, appreciate that the movie managed to surprise me at times. It’s not just the big plot twists but just when I thought I had it all figured out, it went in a somewhat different direction. For example, for a while I was convinced, we’d get a full-on Heathers moment, but nope!
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