Do Revenge

Do Revenge wants so badly to be cool. It takes reference and pays homage to many teen movies with an edge from previous decades. It updates this with modern sensibilities and fashions. And after all its hard work, it’s not cool at all. As we all know, nothing is less cool than trying too hard to be cool.

The events of Do Revenge begin with high school queen bee, Drea suffering a fall from grace. Drea sends an explicit video to her boyfriend, Max. This video is then leaked to the student body. Drea is certain that Max himself leaked the tape. While Drea’s reputation takes a huge hit, Max climbs to new heights of popularity. This cannot stand. So, Drea connects with a new girl in school, Eleanor. Eleanor also had her life ruined by someone. Years earlier, someone outed her at a summer camp and the label of being a predatory queer girl stuck. Drea and Eleanor connect with a classic scheme: they’re going to get revenge for one another. Eleanor will help Drea take down Max while Drea will ruin the life of the girl who outed and bullied Eleanor.

Do Revenge wants to have its finger on the pulse of modern teen culture. It misses that mark. The basic framework of innovation states that trends begin with innovators, gain momentum through early trend setters before trickling into the mainstream majority through early and later adopters. Do Revenge is trendy only if you’re a late adopter of the trends they depict. The style of this movie tries so hard to be current. And that’s a hard thing to do because what’s current is always changing. Maybe it was trend-setting when it was filmed. But by the time of its release, it all seems passe. If anything, Do Revenge signals the death of certain trends. They’ve officially passed into the mainstream so the trend setters need to start looking for the next thing. 90s influence on fashion is out. Bring on the 2000s.

Likewise, Do Revenge’s script and story want to feel modern but it’s not truly cutting edge. It’s certainly not edgy. Do Revenge seems to want to be Heathers. But it’s also afraid to be too controversial. I can’t see anyone getting seriously offended or shocked by Do Revenge. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But because the film has such a clear desire to be a cult teen hit, in this case, it sort of is. There is not nearly enough bite to this film. I can’t see the movie ending up on moodboards for internet teens who glorify mental illness. Heathers still exists as a film and you could just watch that. For all of Do Revenge’s modern additions to classic teen tropes, it never offers a strong enough argument to watch this film instead of one of its original reference points.

One thing that I do appreciate is that the film gets stronger as it goes along. There are some twists and revelations in the third act. And after these revelations, the film and its characters do get stronger. Do Revenge is willing to engage with the new information it offers to create a deeper, messier character dynamic between its leads. The revelations themselves aren’t shocking. But the aftermath of them leads to some of the stronger character moments in the film. I was almost on board with the film by the time the credits rolled. Then, of course there’s some mid-credits scenes that undo some of that good work. I don’t want to see Drea and Eleanor making amends and working towards being better people! I want to see them go all-in on being fucked up and prosper in spite of it!

That mid-credits scene also concludes both of the characters’ romantic subplots. Which it’s pretty hard to care about. This movie is about Drea and Eleanor and their toxic-ass dynamic. Earlier in the film, Drea declares she and Eleanor to be fucked up soulmates. Am I supposed to care that Eleanor kisses a girl and Drea kisses that boy with blue hair after that? Because I don’t!If I was supposed to genuinely care about these girls’ romances, the film failed. These romances feel pretty half-assed. And if I wasn’t supposed to root for Drea and Eleanor to kiss the whole time, again, the film failed. It probably would be a bigger hit with the disaffected youths if they had gone all-in on their relationship.

The main problem is that Do Revenge is a Netflix movie. And Netflix as an entire brand proves that things can be popular without being cool. Do Revenge just isn’t cool. It isn’t an edgy teenage cult hit. It’s a mainstream teen movie too afraid of backlash to do anything truly challenging. I don’t see people remembering Do Revenge fondly as an emblematic teen movie of this decade. More than anything, I see the film as a death knell for so many of the trends it depicts so boldly. That’s always the problem with being trendy; your window for succeeding is about two weeks. After that, you’re just passe. And Do Revenge feels utterly passe.

Overall rating: 5.4/10

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