Do Revenge

"Do Revenge" narratively portrays the story of Drea Torres (Camila Mendes), who is the "it girl" of Rosehill Country Day high school.

So, let’s put a stop to that as soon as possible and return to analyzing 90’s movie tropes, femininity, and patriarchy through the eyes of adults. They hug it out and then proceed to screen the video of Max admitting that he was the one behind the video leak. Additionally, she admits that she doesn’t want to get back at Eleanor because she thinks she’s the only friend she has. So, in order to ensure that Drea lives with her pain forever, Eleanor orders her to go to the Admissions Party and force everyone to do the craziest stuff ever. Eleanor explains that she wanted to stop her plan of reminding Drea that she is the one behind everything that she had to go through. After Russ leaves, because he’s obviously disappointed by the revelation that Drea is diabolical, Eleanor shows up to tell her that she caused the accident for a reason. When Drea rushes to Russ to tell him the truth, Eleanor totals her car and sends her to the hospital. Eleanor says that she’s now on Max’s side because Drea didn’t even remember her birthday, and, hence, she feels that Drea is friends with her because she’s useful. They even go to the extent of saying that since America is a free country, they shouldn’t limit themselves to one partner and just go out with anyone who is willing to sleep with them. So, she has to go in there, expose what’s happening in there, draw out Max, and then Drea is going to make him admit that he leaked that raunchy video of hers. She reminds Drea that she’s the one who spread the rumor that Eleanor (who used to go by the name Nora) was a predator when she came out to Drea when they were 13. As Carissa, Max, Drea, and Eleanor go to the same school, Drea asks Eleanor to fulfill her revenge fantasies about Max, while she goes after Carissa on Eleanor’s behalf.

Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes make for a "phenomenal" duo in the new bubble-gum take on Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train.

Miller](https://readysteadycut.com/2022/09/16/do-revenge-review-wickedly-entertaining-and-full-of-surprises/) (opens in new tab) describes the flick as "wickedly entertaining and full of surprises". [The Guardian's Adrian Horton](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/sep/15/do-revenge-review-biting-netflix-comedy-updates-strangers-on-a-train) (opens in new tab) gives it four stars. [A.V Club's Courtney Howard](https://www.avclub.com/do-revenge-review-camila-mendes-maya-hawke-1849535030) (opens in new tab) writes: "Robinson and her collaborators infuse Do Revenge with an appropriately clear-eyed view of the futility and stupidity of high school social hierarchies. Elsewhere, [The Daily Beast's Coleman Spilde](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/do-revenge-on-netflix-review-a-generation-defining-teen-movie) (opens in new tab) boldly calls it a "cackle-inducingly funny" and a "generation-defining masterpiece." [Mama's Geeky Tessa Smith](https://mamasgeeky.com/2022/09/do-revenge-review-2022-movie.html) (opens in new tab) claims Hawke and Mendes make a "phenomenal" duo, while [Digital Spy's Ian Sandwell](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a41229711/do-revenge-review-netflix/) promises viewers "plenty of darkly entertaining fun" and [Ready Steady Cut's M. [The New York Times' Amy Nicholson](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/movies/do-revenge-review-strangers-on-a-text-chain.html) (opens in new tab) describes Do Revenge as "a playful, sharp-fanged satire that feels like the '90s teen comedy hammered into modern emojis: crown, knife, fire, winky face."

A tribute to 1980s and '90s teen movies. All of them.

The characters are constructs who are so aware of themselves as constructs (and the plot, too) that there's really no reason why we should feel for them, but we do, thanks to the lead performances, the direction, and the kidding/not kidding vibe of the entire production. [Brian Burgoyne](/cast-and-crew/brian-burgoyne) and editor [Lori Ball](/cast-and-crew/lori-ball) conspire with the director to keep the movie constantly winding its way forward while allowing for stylish grace notes, such as an Andersonian perfectly-symmetrical establishing shot or a voluptuous needle-drop that uses most—and in at least one case, all—of a song. ( [Sarah Michelle Gellar](/cast-and-crew/sarah-michelle-gellar), star of "Cruel Intentions" as well as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," has a small role as the headmistress of Rosehill, who advises Drea to channel her anger rather than explode in rage, as she did while accusing Max of leaking the video.) It's as if a cross-dressing Shakespeare comedy had been outfitted with elements from " [Clueless](/reviews/clueless-1995)," " [10 Things I Hate About You](/reviews/10-things-i-hate-about-you-1999)," " [Election](/reviews/election-1999)," " [Rushmore](/reviews/rushmore-1999)," and " [Cruel Intentions](/reviews/cruel-intentions-1999)." The vengeance-driven friendship comedy "Do Revenge" is to the 1980s and '90s high school movie as the "Scream" series was to the post-"Halloween" slasher picture. Max also founds the Cis Hetero Men Championing Female Identifying Students League, an organization that brags about the "allyship" of its members but is mainly camouflage for Max and his bros to womanize without getting called out as misogynists.

Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke charm each other in Netflix teen thriller 'Do Revenge,' a twinned, twisted tale of doled-out retribution.

Song and film alike ask you to lose yourself in such raw emotion — to excuse, even, the intentionally playful grammar faux-pas in its title and to revel instead, in its ultimately winking moral of a tale. — and where she and Drea can come up with the notion of giving off “Glennergy” (i.e. This is a film where Eleanor can ruefully note that she’s a “Billie Jean King in a sea of Maria Sharapovas” — while reading Highsmith’s novel, no less! And couldn’t Drea stage a hit on that “crunchy lesbian” who, as Eleanor tells is, outed and humiliated a young Eleanor while at summer camp several years prior? After all, Robinson’s project owes less to Hitchock’s infamous classic than to the likes of “Heathers,” “Mean Girls” and “Cruel Intentions” — influences the film wears proudly on its stylish and appropriately throwbacky Y2K-era sleeves. [Jennifer Kaytin Robinson](https://variety.com/t/jennifer-kaytin-robinson/)’s viciously delectable “ [Do Revenge](https://variety.com/t/do-revenge/)” is that it should stand alongside the many iconic teen flicks it both cribs from and pays homage to.

Do Revenge,” Netflix's new high school revenge-swap dramedy starring Maya Hawke and Camilla Mendes, is a minefield of '90s teen movie references — from.

I watched ‘Stranger Things,’ so I knew her work, and when I heard she was already attached, it made me want to be part of the project that much more.” “So I didn’t want the story of Eleanor to be about her being outed; it’s what happened when she was outed.” “But, also, part of what makes actors actors is that they are people who are good at having chemistry with people,” she added. Bonded by their respective traumas and dread about the coming school year, the two eventually hatch a plan to “do revenge” for each other and get away with it. And, on top of that, the emotional depth of the movie — it’s a really beautiful story about healing your trauma.” In fact, the director moved the filming location to Atlanta so that both Hawke and Mendes were able to sign on. “It was really about staying true to the deliciousness of ‘Strangers on a Train,’ within this world that feels really candy-coated, saturated and fun.” In addition to “Strangers on a Train,” Highsmith is perhaps best known for writing “The Talented Mr. A nude video of her is leaked online and the most likely culprit is her boyfriend, Max (Austin Abrams of “Euphoria” fame), who wields significantly more power over the privileged student body than Drea, who attends the school on a scholarship. That’s when, friendless and in risk of losing her chance at Yale, she meets a new transfer, Eleanor, who unlike Drea is no stranger to being a social pariah. And even the soundtrack of pop songs and camera work, which includes montages of school cliques and aerial shots, pay homage to the ‘90s teen genre — as do its central storylines. “Do Revenge,” Netflix’s new high school revenge-swap dramedy starring Maya Hawke and Camila Mendes, is a minefield of ‘90s teen movie references — from cliques with coordinating outfits to makeover schemes and house parties where popularity is made and lost.

"Do Revenge" has all the makings of an attention-generating machine, combining a "Mean Girls" vibe with the stars of two popular teen franchises in Camila ...

She directs her anger at dreamy ex-boyfriend Max (Abrams), who leaked an explicit tape of her, while Hawke's Eleanor has nursed an old grudge against a girl who leveled a false accusation against her in the course of outing her. Mostly, it's a story of unlikely friendship, set against the backdrop of another private school where the parties make Roman bacchanals seem restrained and pale by comparison. Yet the plot (based on a script by Robinson and Celeste Ballard) doesn't pursue that enticing prospect with much conviction, which might explain why it runs out of steam down the stretch.

Do Revenge, with Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke, is too cluttered to service any of its many moving parts, homages, or tones.

The show will feature a very young Ahsoka Tano and her mother Pav-ti (voiced by Janina Gavankar), as well as the return of Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn.](/videos/star-wars-tales-of-the-jedi-official-trailer) [Street Fighter 6 Reveals Its Full Launch Roster2h ago - A mix of new and old - plus your cutomizable creation.](/articles/street-fighter-6-reveals-its-full-launch-roster) [Marvel’s Thunderbolts Roster Isn't Very Electrifying… A big issue here is that things aren't supposed to make all that much sense for a large run of the story because everything's nurturing the aforementioned twist. The film, though, is somewhat lax with this set up since even before Drea and Eleanor meet, Drea outright obliterates the life of someone else who wronged her ( [Game of Thrones](/articles/2019/05/23/game-of-thrones-sn-8-review)' Sophie Turner in brief role), making it seem like she's more than capable of handling her own revenging. It's set at a posh school for the ultra wealthy and asks a great deal of us when it comes to investing in the troubles and turmoils of the preposterously privileged. [Riverdale](/articles/2018/10/11/riverdale-season-3-premiere-review-labor-day-archie-jail)'s Camila Mendes and [Stranger Things](/articles/stranger-things-season-4-part-2-review)' Maya Hawke star as Drea and Eleanor, two seniors who agree to ruin the lives of the others' tormentor.

'Riverdale' star Camila Mendes and 'Stranger Things' star Maya Hawke team up for Netflix's high school twist on 'Strangers on a Train,' from director ...

It was just like, “This is just a really cool project and I want to be in it, and like I don’t give a f— that I’m 26 playing in high school. I could see that you were running from a long day on “Stranger Things” to another long day on “Do Revenge,” then back to a long day on “Stranger Things.” The work she put in to both projects simultaneously was so impressive, and the fact that every time she showed up to work I didn’t see the exhaustion. It was a big undertaking and touched a lot of soft spaces in our hearts. Your temperament through all of that was so impressive, and not a lot of people can pull that off. The second I realized that this movie was going to be that, getting to work with amazing people who really care about it, it didn’t matter if I’d be playing a bush or a lamp post or a keychain. Like, “I just love too hard” or, “My tragic flaw is that I care too much!” I don’t think that’s the case with Drea and Eleanor. Every now and then someone has hurt my feelings, and the way they hurt my feelings, I had to be like, “Gosh, you’re so smart. You hurt my feelings in the exact way that my feelings can be hurt.” Sometimes someone does something to you that doesn’t look that bad on the surface, but really hits your soft spot ... And this is credit to Jenn’s writing and directing, to set up a scene where you have two characters you’ve been following and they both have a very strong opinion about what’s happened, and as an audience member, neither one is right and neither one is wrong. But when we’re in the scene of our own lives, we’re like, “No! “I had nothing but time and resources and I had my two co-stars with me and we were all just watching ‘Harry Potter’ movies all week,” she said. I feel like I’ve been Drea at low points in my life, where I’ve been vengeful or I’ve wanted to hurt somebody who hurt me, and I’ve felt motivated by those same dark desires.

Director and cowriter Jennifer Kaytin Robinson takes us inside her candy-coated new Netflix film with images of fashion, bearded dragons, and Sophie Turner.

Writer and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson on teen movies and Trojan horses.

This movie was never meant to be a slice of teen life today, it was always meant to be in a heightened reality. This movie is about revenge, but really about the wrong way to get to the right answer. I wanted it to feel kind of outside of reality and the space and time we live in now. The writing is really fun, and we wanted it to feel of this world, but we also trusted the cast to execute or enhance that dialogue to be the best version of it. I had a wonderful family but went to a hyper-competitive private school, and it really is interesting to see how your environment can morph your personality. I look back on that with a lot of regret, but also you really interrogate how and where you grew up. “I like a movie that feels popcorn,” she says, “but I also want to connect.” We wanted to live in this world where we could build a lexicon of our own. And the conceit of Strangers on a Train could be set beautifully in the high-school ecosystem. That final scene in Scream, which was another tonal touchstone for me, does such a good job of that meta, fun dialogue where you can put a character in a heightened situation; Matthew Lillard’s character gets stabbed and he says, “my parents are going to be so pissed.” That world and the feeling of those moments is what I connect to and stays with me; they’re emotionally grounded and incredibly cinematic. Early on in the creative process, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Someone Great, Thor: Love and Thunder) who co-wrote and directed the dark comedy, zeroed in on something that’s been true of great high-school movies from Clueless to Cruel Intentions: “they’re all reimaginings,” she says, noting that [Clueless is a version of Jane Austen’s Emma](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a33300757/clueless-25th-anniversary-amy-heckerling-interview/) and Cruel Intentions offers a ’90s take on [Dangerous Liaisons](https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a7734/les-liaisons-dangereuses-broadway-revival/). It was important to us to make these characters incredibly nuanced.

From a '10 Things I Hate About You'–inspired paintball date to a 'Cruel' cameo, here's a breakdown of teen movie Easter eggs hidden in plain sight.

Robinson Library, in honor of Do Revenge’s director and co-writer? “All three of us really immersed ourselves in all of these films,” she says. “I feel like coming back to them as a filmmaker, I was just really taken aback about how beautiful these films are.”

Sarah Michelle Gellar and Camila Mendes also star in a candy-coated "Gossip Girl" riff that's major fun despite its try-hard feminism.

If they want to do a little revenge on a world that seems hell bent on driving humanity off a cliff, “Do Revenge” offers some clever entertainment for the ride. The two collaborated on the 2016 MTV comedy “Sweet/Vicious,” a college rape revenge comedy that predated “Promising Young Woman” by a few years. It’s nice to see Robinson and Ballard get another shot at the vigilante genre in “Do Revenge,” though they’ve traded violence for more psychological tortures. [Maya Hawke](https://www.indiewire.com/t/maya-hawke/) (“Stranger Things”) as two unlikely allies in a battle for teen justice, “Do Revenge” is a funny feminist take on the mainstream high school comedy. “I’m Frankenstein, and you’re Frankenstein’s bad bitch.” The plan is to infiltrate Max’s friend group in order to humiliate them and prove once and for all that the founder of the “Cis Hetero Men Championing Women Identifying Students League” is full of shit. If two-faced men’s rights groups and psychedelic mushroom stings seem a little ridiculous, it’s all part of the sickly fun and games of “Do Revenge,” a quippy romp through the steely cunning of that universally feared group: teenage girls.

Hairstylist Katie Ballard on the '90s-inspired aesthetic she crafted alongside the film's stars.

“It’s not a word that I used a lot until this film, but it’s basically just not a hair out of place,” says Ballard, who used “As I sat and chatted with Maya, the references that came up were actually her mom, Uma, and Taylor Swift,” says Ballard of what became “the most interesting part” of designing each character’s style. “If you picture a really slicked, high 40-inch pony, that’s the epitome of the ‘snatched’ look.” A long brunette version that matched her natural hair color during her “awkward” phase in the beginning, and a bright blonde that Ballard notes represents her “coming into her power.” Hawke and Ballard referenced the iconic Pulp Fiction bob that Uma Thurman wore for the latter, but this time in a Swift-level shade of blonde designed by wig artist Robert Miller-Navarre. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Do Revenge reimagines the familiar thrill of a plot-driven makeover scene. In the dark comedy, Hawke plays Eleanor, a wealthy outcast who comes together with Mendes’s character Drea, an insider experiencing a fall from social grace, all at the expense of their prep school enemies.

Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who co-wrote and directed the film, spoke about the influences behind 'Do Revenge' and how it taps into teenage girl rage.

“I wanted it to elicit a feeling in you,” she says. It was in the very first draft that she wrote,” Robinson says of the term inspired by Glenn Close’s bunny killing turn in Fatal Attraction. “There are definitely some Reputation undertones in the film,” says Robinson, who is a fan of the singer. “That feeling that it hurts to exist starts in those middle school and high school years, but it doesn’t go away. “We really blew it out and wanted it to feel color soaked,” she says. “I heard her say it and was just like, ‘Yeah, Maya, that’s perfect,’” she says. “She really brought so much insight and nuance to the character,” she says. “Cami really created her character visually: the hair, makeup, the snatched wardrobe,” she says. “They’re very tapped in and really understand the demographic,” Robinson says. The Cruel Intentions star plays the movie’s only adult character, a “juicy and fun role” for the former teen queen that was “That came because Netflix told me to cut [the line] ‘that dumb bitch’ and I thought it would be funny to start off the frame with that license plate,” she says. “It was one of those things where it almost immediately clicked,” Robinson tells TIME when recalling the original pitch to adapt the novel.

Sophie Turner screams swear words in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's "Do Revenge," but Netflix executives were less than thrilled.

The Do Revenge Twitter review starring Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke will give the movie a much-needed boost. The film apprises Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers ...

[Drea](/topic/drea)and [Eleanor](/topic/eleanor). [Maya Hawke](/topic/maya-hawke)and [Camila Mendes](/topic/camila-mendes). The film's synopsis reads that after a covert bust-up, following a leaked sex tape of Drea (Camila Mandes) by her boyfriend and Eleanor (Maya Hawke), outcasted for a rumor of kissing a girl, they form a team to go after each other's oppressors. Indian equities tumbled close to 2% on Friday, tracking weakness in global markets, as stronger-than-expected economic readings in the US raised expectations of aggressive rate increases by the American central bank at next week’s policy meeting. What most awe-struck the fans were the amusing one-liner and clever plot and the pompous characters of Most fans were impressed with the eminence of the characters and the movie's storyline.

"Thor: Love and Thunder" co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson revealed how she approached "Do Revenge" differently than a Marvel movie.

“Tell me what you think: I think the sequel should be ‘Deux Revenge’ and it’s about Sophie Turner coming for Drea and Eleanor.” “It’d be fun to see Drea and Eleanor do a road trip movie,” Hawke teased. That is what I like the most and so if that comes in the form of a $200 million Marvel movie, awesome. “I would love to direct a big movie like Marvel or DC, but I think for me, it’s about the stories that I connect to,” Robinson told IndieWire. If that comes in the form of a $5 million Blumhouse movie, also awesome. The ensemble cast including Austin Abrams, Sophie Turner, Ava Capri, Maia Reficco, Paris Berelc, Talia Ryder, Jonathan Daviss, Rish Shah, and Alisha Boe, even dubbed themselves the “Revengers” with a special nod to Marvel’s “Avengers.”