To Revenge, or Not to Revenge
Camila Mendes, Maya Hawke and more dazzle in Netflix’s latest Gen Z masterpiece
By Morgan Shelley
Are you a fan of “Mean Girls” or “Heathers”? Perhaps “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” is your comfort film franchise, or you loved watching “Clueless” during sleepovers. If you enjoy these movies or just need a new flick to watch, Netflix’s latest teen comedy film, “Do Revenge,” might be exactly what you’re looking for on a Friday night in with your besties.
Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke in “Do Revenge.” Credit: Netflix
Teenage Dreams
Merriam-Webster defines satire as the utilization of humor and other elements to criticize the shortcomings of others. Some use it interchangeably with sarcasm, one of the primary pillars of Gen Z communication. The films listed at the beginning of this review each contain heavy satirical elements to appeal to young audiences and engage with the expectations and horrors of modern adolescent experiences. Many teen film narratives typically follow a skinny, middle-class, white female high school student through a conflict that creates friction within their social circle and challenges their perspective of life up until that point. People of color and Queer, neurodivergent and chronically ill individuals (and more) are regularly excluded from this niche of “pastel teenage dream” storytelling.
I love teen films and their clever, often overdramatic narratives, but I was rarely able to relate to the majority of them growing up. Most were inaccessible to me as a QPOC struggling with their mental health and other challenges. My teen years were not dreamy, and to be candid, most of the films I adored during that time have aged horribly. “Do Revenge,” however, is a teen film that is aware of itself, the nuances it contains, the stereotypes and trauma that accompany adolescence and how to create humor out of these elements in a way that I believe will stand the test of time.
Camila Mendes in “Do Revenge.” Credit: Netflix
Rumors and Reputations
According to Drea Torres (Camila Mendes), you know you’ve reached the top “when someone wants to destroy you.” The first minute of “Do Revenge” sets the stage for the nearly two-hour film—someone drives up to a massive house party in a pink car with a sparkly license plate that reads DUMBTCH while “For The Girls” by Hayley Kiyoko plays and Spring flashes across the screen in pastel pink. If you get it, you get it. If not, this YouTube video by content creator Mina Le on modern hyperfeminism could help.
Drea is a complex, layered character with a future to protect. She is a young girl, a person of color, a student at a preparatory high school and an outsider compared to her wealthy, predominantly white peers. She cannot make mistakes, must contain her emotions and holds herself to a standard of perfection. Her social life is a flashy spectacle, but not even her closest peers truly know her. Drea is like a chameleon that goes on the offensive at the slightest sign of danger. So when her boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams) leaks a private video of her without her consent, she seeks revenge against him with the help of new student Eleanor (Maya Hawke) who also has experienced betrayal and trauma in her youth. The two are toxic soulmates in the making.
Drea and Eleanor decide to team up and “do each other’s revenge.” The film follows the duo’s attempts to expose Max and Carissa (Ava Capri), the latter who allegedly started a false rumor about Eleanor that ruined her life.
Maya Hawke and Talia Ryder in “Do Revenge.” Credit: Netflix
“Stay lost as long as you can”
“Do Revenge” plays on classic “pastel teenage dream” film tropes we know and adore—problematic makeovers, cliques, scheming, plot twists, romance and more—but contains unique elements that set it apart from its infamous predecessors.
The film has a female POC lead with multiple supporting POC characters. It makes space for female characters to simultaneously explore trauma and play into the (false) teen girl “psycho” narrative and contains Queer characters and themes. I cannot begin to overemphasize the importance of having POC on screen and in leading roles or the fact that Eleanor identifies as Queer. Eleanor and Gabbi (Talia Ryder), a Queer couple, are also allowed to explore their relationship physically and emotionally, similarly to Drea and Russ (Rish Shah), a heterosexual couple. Before Drea and Eleanor plot their revenge scheme, Eleanor mentions hiring a “high school hitman … or woman or Enby” to do their revenge for them. Enby is an abbreviation for Nonbinary, an identity within the Queer community related to one’s gender. If “Do Revenge” cannot be considered Queer inclusive, it at least can be regarded as Queer accessible compared to other films of the same genre.
And yes, even if you do not think this film is anything special, it still matters that Drea is a person of color and directly discusses this reality with her peers.
“Do Revenge” also makes space for gentleness and mental health. In one scene, Eleanor comforts Drea after she receives some tough news. “Do you think I’ll ever feel better?” Drea asks before discussing the growing knot in her chest that she feels has been choking her for a while. For me, that reads as anxiety. For you, it could read as a number of things. It is open enough that you do not have to be a teenager to identify, in your own way, with what Drea is feeling.
Drea and Eleanor go down various paths of revenge until they realize they are only hurting themselves by allowing their negative emotions to cloud their vision. They both make mistakes—some of which may not deserve forgiveness, depending on who you ask—and begin to learn from them. Even Max, the “manic pixie dream boy” who gets away with everything, falls from glory in the end. There are also many moments in the film that satirize cancel culture and the horrific ways Generation Z turn on each other in the name of accountability or status. Drea gets to a point after all the madness where she admits that she wants genuine change in her life and her headmaster—played by none other than Sarah Michelle Gellar—advises her to enjoy not having everything figured out while she still can.
“Do Revenge” has a lot to say and for me, it ultimately circles back to this: We need to acknowledge the things that we do and hold space for each other to learn and grow, or the cycles we exist in will never end. Also, most things in life are temporary. The film is a spin on the mean girl narratives of the past, not their death, and I believe it deserves to be acknowledged for what it is. “Pastel teenage dream” flicks are totally overrated, and you are allowed to enjoy them.
