Recently, Netflix has been evoking a new era of Teen Comedies and Romantic Comedies with their movies. A new movie released on Netflix has recently gained some traction on social media, and I wanted to find out why. 

I believe that the golden era of comedy movies has died — I mean, come on, nobody can top “Mean Girls” or “Ten Things I Hate About You” or “17 Again,” right? It was a Tuesday night and after doing homework for a few hours, I hopped on TikTok for a twenty-minute break. While scrolling, I saw an advertisement for a new Netflix teen movie called “Do Revenge.” I remember scoffing and scrolling past the video. However, something caught my eye and I scrolled back up. Famous actors Maya Hawke from “Stranger Things,” Cami Mendes from “Riverdale” and Sophie Turner from “Game of Thrones” have teamed up in this new Teen Comedy. Now, I don’t know about you, but anytime I hear “Game of Thrones,” I perk up. This cast had me officially piqued. 

I ended up watching the movie a few days later. With my cursor hovering over the play button, I didn’t know what to expect. Was I going to be disappointed? Cringed out? Was it going to top all of the comedy classics? It was my mission to find that out.

The movie opens up with colorful lights and people crowded together at a preppy pool party, with Cami Mendes’ character, Drea, the “it-girl” of her school. Her reputation is ruined, however, when a sexually explicit tape she filmed after the party is shared among her peers by her boyfriend, Max, who was the receiver of the video. My first thoughts? Intriguing, but cringy. On the flip side, we are introduced to Eleanor, Maya Hawke’s character. Eleanor is a lesbian character who is traumatized after an incident at summer camp years ago. 

During the movie, the two girls become unlikely friends, team up and swap their revenge plots. Drea’s revenge plot revolves around her dressing up as an attractive newbie, infiltrating Max’s inner circle, and messing with Max and the members of his crew to get revenge on his inappropriate and cruel actions. 

The film’s satirical remarks got me to laugh every once in a while, but there were a few things that made me cringe. As per most current-day teen comedies, the actors never look their character’s rightful age, and this is the same in “Do Revenge.” Outdated slang words like “peaking,” “salty” and “woke” used by Generation Z are also utilized in the script, which makes it evident that the movie was filmed a year or two ago, and this threw me out of the loop and made the movie harder to enjoy. While the essence of everyday high school life is somewhat evident in the movie, it felt mostly unrealistic from the beginning all the way through. 

There were some interesting moments in the movie, however. The costumes, though pretty unrealistic for current-day high school students, were interesting to analyze and look at. The music used in the movie was also more modern, which made for some hum-along tunes that played well in the movie, such as using Olivia Rodrigo’s “Brutal” in the opening credits of the movie. The movie also touched on Drea’s heritage, which differs from the typical white Queen Bee trope. Drea is a Mexican-American assimilated girl who had to fight her way to the top of her predominantly white, privileged high school.

Overall, this movie had some good moments. I don’t believe that it will ever beat the classic teen comedies, but it was a good, silly movie to watch and unwind to. 

I rate this movie a 6/10.