The highly anticipated teen Netflix movie Do Revenge was just released and quickly became the number one trending movie on the streaming service. Revitalizing the teen black comedy genre, Do Revenge follows two teen girls who have been wrongfully outcast and team up to do revenge on each other's bullies.
With an incredible cast of young talent that already has strong fan bases of their own, it's no surprise that fans quickly flocked to the movie to see what it was all about. And when they loved it, which most of them did, they flooded Letterboxd with their honest and hilarious reviews and reactions.
The Teen Movie Of The 2020s
The world might only be two years into the 2020s decade, but fans are already certain that Do Revenge is going to be the best teen movie of the genre. It's clear that writer Celeste Ballard and writer/director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson knew exactly what they were doing when they crafted this movie.
Letterboxd user hustlerss summed it up best, calling Do Revenge the "definitive teen movie of the 2020s. a new standard set." They go on to claim that the plot twist has already made cinema history.
Exceeds Expectations
When the first trailers for Do Revenge were released, they didn't stir up quite a lot of buzz. In short, the trailers made it seem like this was another run-of-the-mill teen, high school movie that should have been set in college (as Letterbox user raj pointed out), given the actors' ages.
However, Raj was pleasantly surprised when Do Revenge managed to subvert all their expectations -- which is exactly what the creators hoped would happen. As Raj writes in their 4 1/2 star review, "everything was a bit too excellent. Definitely, a very enjoyable film I could see myself maybe even rewatching in the future."
Surprising Comparisons
The creators behind Do Revenge have been very open about where they drew their inspiration from -- much of which stems from iconic '90s and 2000s teen movies. However, Letterboxd user Giada and several other fans of the movie drew another comparison, writing that, "Eleanor and Drea are to me what the Joker and Harley Quinn are to straight people."
It might seem odd but both Eleanor and Drea and the Joker and Harley Quinn have toxic, co-dependent relationships that lead them to do some morally questionable things.
Potential For A Slasher Sequel?
While Do Revenge pulled off one of the best plot twists in teen history with Eleanor being the actual mastermind the entire time, some fans wished the movie pushed the genre even more. A popular complaint shared by Letterboxd user maca is that the movie should have been a slasher film.
There are certainly moments where Eleanor and Drea could have plunged off the deep end for real, especially in the final confrontation with Max at the Ivy League party. However, it was more important for the girls to get their revenge in a way that wouldn't leave them needed to serve jail time.
A Movie For The Girls
Since the dawn of the movie industry, film bros have turned their noses up at films catered to women calling them "chick flicks" and other derogatory terms. Do Revenge took that criticism in stride and made a movie that is so purely for the girls that any negative reviews by men don't matter.
In fact, the girls have taken over the Letterboxd reviews to make sure that no entitled, upset male reviewer gets any attention. As user neelam writers, "this movie is for the girls only."
Subverting The Mean Girl Trope
Mean girls have always been a part of teen movies and they certainly got an increase in popularity after Mean Girls became one of the best teen movies. Do Revenge takes what Mean Girls started and takes it to a whole other level to introduce a new breed of mean girls.
Instead, Letterboxd user jules points out that they never made the mean girls, only the victim the whole time (like Mean Girls did with Regina George) and instead created mean girl characters who were complex and acted as both the victim and perpetrator. Thus, they created two flawed but loved teen girl characters in Eleanor and Drea.
Needed More Kissing
Do Revenge was never billed as a romance movie, but like most teen movies, romance seeped into the plot. In fact, both Drea and Eleanor find worthy relationships and get steamy mid-credit make-out sessions with their significant others.
But for many fans, that wasn't enough. Letterboxd User mya took to their review to ask, "what exactly was stopping them from letting Drea and Eleanor kiss." It seems like a popular question, as many fans hoped these two would end up romantically together by the end.
Creation Of The Netflix Actor Multi-Verse
Aside from creating a witty script and pulling off an impressive plot twist, Do Revenge also excels because of the brilliant casting done by the casting department. As Letterboxd user yanneroo writes, "the casting is sooo perfect. I could recognize almost everyone."
With actors hailing from Netflix hits like Stranger Things, 13 Reasons Why, and Outer Banks, it certainly seems like Do Revenge has created the Netflix actors playing teenagers multi-verse. Given Do Revenge's success, maybe it'll lead to Netflix teen shows having cross-over episodes like Disney Channel used to do.
Makes The Over-Played Tropes Worth It
While Do Revenge is unique, it does still play into some popular teen tropes. This was almost an issue for Letterboxd user loganfairbanks who openly admitted they almost took "half a star off" because of the mass text scene but "couldn't bring myself to do it."
Sending a mass text isn't the only over-played trope Do Revenge leans into as there is also an epic make-over montage towards the beginning of the movie. And yet, through the unique characters and gorgeous color pallets, Do Revenge manages to make these overplayed tropes feel fresh and new.
The Soundtrack Deserves All The Awards
Letterboxd user parademusical accompanied their five-star review with a one-sentence review, "Name a better soundtrack I'll wait." They're going to be waiting a long time because the Do Revenge soundtrack is a masterpiece.
Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and music supervisor Rob Lowry talked at great lengths about wanting to make the soundtrack a blend of music they grew up with and popular teen tracks of today. Regardless of the year songs were released, most of them are female-led, which amps up the "girl power" theme of the movie.