I was scrolling on Twitter one day and saw this bizarre video of Sophie Turner (the actress that played Sansa Stark in Game of Thrones) brazenly declaring that she doesn’t do cocaine and doesn’t even know what it looks like. I thought it was hilarious, so hilarious that I decided to look up what movie the clip was from so I could watch it with context. The movie is called Do Revenge, it’s a Netflix original. Now, Netflix has a lot of coming of age style shows/movies, some of them good, some of them not so good. Honestly, even if the movie is regarded as being good by most viewers, I find myself unable to be pulled in to a lot of the Netflix original movies that I see. This one was different for me though. Maybe it was the revenge aspect of it, after all Kill Bill Vol. 1 is one of my favorite movies (and ironically Uma Thurman’s daughter is one of the leads in this movie), but that’s not the only thing I liked.
I think the main thing that I liked about the movie is the dynamic between the two main characters. Camila Mendes (Drea) and Maya Hawke (Eleanor) had good chemistry together. I found myself really rooting for them to be friends and anytime they were on screen together I was captivated. I was invested in their story, and that’s probably why the plot twists were so effective.
Another thing I really liked was how well the film blended aspects from past coming of age movies with the present. Even the soundtrack had a few notable older songs mixed with current pop favorites. It’s as if they took a movie from the early-mid 2000’s and tweaked it to modern, 2022 sensibilities. I definitely see a lot of influence from movies such as Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You (one scene in particular feels like it was almost copy/pasted from 10 things into this movie which I’m not mad at), and John Tucker Must Die to name a few. This movie at its core, fits in with those other movies, there are a lot of classic tropes (the loner outcast makeover, the cliques, the popularity politics, the popular girl who’s actually not as shallow as her classmates think, etc.) but the overall aesthetic of the movie is very modern and contemporary. The Max character and how he portrays toxic masculinity is a perfect example of this.
I remember watching 21 Jump St. and seeing Channing Tatum’s character struggle to adapt to what modern high school society deemed as cool. In the past, toxic masculinity was portrayed as the buff, popular, jock who was a jerk to everyone but people liked him because he was good at sports. Now though, toxic masculinity is portrayed differently. Max’s character is just a wimpy white dude who has painted nails, minimalist tattoos, an ivy league acceptance letter, and faux/performative feminist ideals. Modern toxic masculinity leans on the “nice guy” trope. The guy who seems nice and harmless, but is actually super manipulative and vindictive vs the more traditional idea of toxicity which is more abrasive and less subtle. However, similar to this film, while the aesthetic of the toxic man is different, the core is still the same. Still insecure and overcompensating, still entitled, still dangerous to women that fall for the trap. Max’s character perfectly portrays this.
I liked a lot about this film, but there are some things that I didn’t like (mostly minor). I think the pacing near the end of the movie was a little too quick. There was a lot happening packed into a relatively short amount of time. There were some…extreme things that happened that kind of just went undone, and seemed almost inconsequential by the end. There were definitely some plotholes that went unaddressed. I also wish that the leads had more time with their romantic interests because I wasn’t really that invested with that subplot of the story.
Overall I really enjoyed this movie. The ending may have been rushed, but it was still thoroughly satisfying. The two leads were likable and easy to get behind (for the most part) despite being extremely flawed and doing morally questionable things. I also commend them for creating an interesting antagonist with no redeeming qualities. There are a lot of meh/middle of the road type movies in this genre, but I feel like this movie will have longevity. Rating: 8/10
Other Takeaways:
- For once the diversity in a movie/tv show didn’t feel at all forced. I appreciate that.
- Yes, Maya Hawke looks like her mom, but she also has a similar acting style to her mom. She delivered some of her lines in a way that was so distinctly like Uma Thurman that it was crazy.
- I’m far from a cinematography expert, but I think it’s interesting seeing the changes in different eras of film within the same genre. Like going from The Breakfast Club, to Clueless, to Mean Girls, to this movie, it’s just interesting to me seeing the visual changes.
Just some guy on the internet 