Do Revenge Movie Review: Camila Mendes, Maya Hawke Make For an Enjoyable Pair in This Coming-of-Age Comedy With a Vengeful Twist (LatestLY Exclusive)

Do Revenge Movie Review: In Netflix’s ever-increasing catalogue of titles coming out of nowhere and becoming an overnight success, comes Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s Do Revenge. Riffing on high-school teen drama of the 90s like 10 Things I Hate About You and Clueless with a sprinkle of Mean Girls and Booksmart’s spirit added to it, Do Revenge is an enjoyable tale loosely inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Stranger on a Train. Captivating with a feminist undertone to it, it features two extremely enjoyable leads, however there is a third act which ends up leaving a lot to be desired from. Andor Review: Diego Luna’s 'Rogue One' Spinoff Series Revels In Providing Refreshing and Intimate Take on the Star Wars Saga! (LatestLY Exclusive).

When the school’s popular girl Drea Torres (Camila Mendes) has an evocative video leaked by her boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams), the golden boy of the school, she loses out on getting into the college of her dreams and has her clique status at the school revoked. Knowing that Max is responsible for the leak and will never face any consequences, she teams up with Eleanor (Maya Hawke), a person who had their sexuality outed and accused of being a predator by someone, they hatch a plan to “do revenge” and take down those who hurt them (step aside Robert Pattinson’s Batman, we have a new duo called vengeance in this town).

Being described as “two wounded soldiers on the battlefield of adolescence,” the leads of Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke make for a really compelling pair. Coming from Riverdale fame, Mendes is able to channel her inner Regina George as she puts out a vindictive performance that really compliments well with Hawke’s more introvert approach in the beginning. The chemistry feels plausible and there is a certain sense of growth between them as the film goes on.

Joining them too is Austin Abrams as Max leads a band of high-status folks and it creates for a snobbish antagonist that you do want to see be taken down. Rish Shaw also makes an impression as the Ms Marvel star does well with the limited screen-time he has while Sophie Turner’s cameo as Erica, a loose cannon, is perhaps some of the best work she has done in years. The cast works for the most part and while it does feature the Netflix issue of high-school teens looking like they are in their late 20s, it never really gets as distracting as you would expect it to be.

Watch the Trailer For Do Revenge:

The story is also extremely similar to this year’s I Want You Back featuring Charlie Day and Jenny Slate, where two recently broken up individuals’ band together to sabotage the new relationship of their exes. With Drea and Eleanor pretty much being the polar opposites in personalities, they device careful and elaborate plans like leaking other DMs of Max or framing Carissa (Ava Capri) for drugging the entire school, it creates for many interesting sequences that understands revenge is indeed a dish best served cold. I Want You Back Movie Review: Charlie Day, Jenny Slate’s Romcom on Amazon Prime Video Is an Utterly Charming Watch! (LatestLY Exclusive).

The high-school of Rosehill has a lot of personality too. With it practically being a snake pit where status means everything, there are some meaningful themes attached to it that modern teens can very easily relate to. With patronising concepts reigning supreme, Max starts an association dedicated to making things easier for the girls in school, and it riffs on modern social climate where the altruistic attitude of leaders ends up feeling quite relevant.

Juked up with a soundtrack that feels like a teen left their Spotify playlist to go on radio and started adding anything that sounds catchy (I would know this because it’s me), it creates for a charming tone that many high-school dramas fail to achieve nowadays. Do Revenge also tells a vengeful tale that can get dark at many times as it focuses on the trauma that others have dealt and focuses on just how far you will go for vengeance and that adds a great personalised touch to it.

Where many stories focus on telling us how revenge is bad, Do Revenge drops those norms and revels in its vengeful tale as its third act twist makes for quite the inspiring choice. However, that ends up being the films biggest mistake as well because our leads do end up doing a lot of questionable stuff and just get a slap on the wrist for it. Maya Hawke Birthday: Reminiscing Some of Her Best Red Carpet Avatars So Far (View Pics).

There is sense of “rushing to the finish line over here” and the movie never really is able to capitalise on making a sensible payoff to its twist. The characters never suffer the consequences for their actions and that will end up leaving many polarised. The film’s message eventually gets lost in those final 20 minutes and maybe an extended runtime could have helped with providing a more meaningful ending. If you’re swinging fences, then probably go all out and don’t hold back.

Yay!

Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke

Charming

Nay!

Netflix’s Issue of Teens Looking Like They Are in Their Late 20s

Fails to Capitalise on Its Twist

Final Thoughts

Do Revenge ditches the norms of an average high-school drama and swings for the fences in its highly inspired concept. While the third act did fail in providing a compelling payoff, Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke’s enjoyable pair makes up for it with being an extremely stylish duo. Do Revenge is streaming on Netflix right now.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 23, 2022 12:21 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).