DO REVENGE: A Battlefield Of Adolescents

There are timeless classics throughout both the film noir, thriller, and young adult genres that remain treasures within the cinematic annals of history. Now, mentioning these genres together may seem like a strange combination, yet Jennifer Kaitlin Robinson’s Do Revenge manages to merge each flawlessly. Working off the structure of Alfred Hitchc*ck’s Strangers on a Train, Do Revenge blends the classic film noir, and thriller with the essences of young adult classics 10 Things About You and Mean Girls. And while the similarities are pleasantly welcomed and noticed, Do Revenge does not lose its own identity within its homages, always aware of its end game. And what a game of revenge it is.

Introducing the Source of Revenge

While Do Revenge begins in the spring, it traverses each season, embracing the turbulence and renewal each has the power to bring about. Audiences are first introduced to Drea (Camila Mendes), a teenage Gen Z queen at the height of her reign celebrating the success her upcoming senior year promises. Everyone wants to be her, her prowess crafting the image that she is untouchable. Yet, the higher up you are, the harder you fall.

And fall Drea does following the release of a sex tape she made for her boyfriend Mike (Austin Abrams), the aftermath leaving her on school probation, her prospects for Yale threatened and her convoy turning their back on her. With few resources at her disposal compared to her peers, Drea leaves for summer tennis camp in the hopes some time apart will heal all wounds.

Do Revenge spends a good deal of time allowing its audience to meet Drea, her voiceover crafting her own individuality within the film. This proves itself even more effective as Do Revenge shifts its focus to its other protagonist Eleanor (Maya Hawke). For Eleanor, she carries her own pain and trauma, one which the film first eludes to before welcoming the audience in completely. She is less transparent than Drea’s opening introduction, her mother’s concern regarding her friends, and what her shrink says the only insight into her past.

As their paths merge at the local tennis camp, eventually the duo reunites at the high school, and their pain and loneliness unite, opening an opportunity for vulnerability and truth between them. And that is when the ultimate plan is hatched. As they find mutual frustration and agony from the bullies that plague each individually, they formulate a plan to take them down together. Hitchc*ck reads all over the film, especially in this moment, the two teens discussing their plan to take out each other’s bully. The staging keeps each on opposite sides of the bathroom, the camera further framing them individually. It is not until both embrace the plan that the camera frames both together, capturing the unity of their collusion.

And while the film continues to maintain its Strangers on a Train feel, Do Revenge proves that at its core, it is a satisfying young adult vehicle.

Young Adult to the Core

While the framework is a Hitchc*ck-ian venture of revenge, Do Revenge becomes a battlefield of adolescents. It seems each person is out to bring one another down, while simultaneously trying to embrace their identity, stature, and desire for more. Do Revenge leans heavily into this battlefield, its wit not only elevating but also reminiscent of both teen classics Mean Girls and 10 Things I Hate About You.

Paint balloon fights, introductions of the school cliques, and a display of team girl trauma and anger are all immediate staples in Do Revenge that scream of the classic films. Yet while they are clear homages, these scenes find their own identity, becoming catalysts for a new story over all. And as the film finds its own growth of identity, so do its characters. Camila Mendes struggles to shake her Veronica Riverdale persona, feeling almost as though Drea could be from a parallel universe. Yet, as the revenge ensues, Mendes evolves her character through both emotion and expression, her arc progressively accelerating as the film moves along. Hawke launches into the film strong, allowing breadth as well for her character to be fully realized by the film’s end. There is a deeper relate-ability to her Eleanor that both script and performance delivers to its audience.

Conclusion

Do Revenge was a pleasant surprise, entertaining from start to finish. The film does ask its audience to suspend its belief, as most young adult films have before it. And while at times its pacing feels as though it should be tighter, especially in the face of its 118-minute runtime, the compelling start of its third act proves there is always more left of a story to tell.

Have you seen Do Revenge? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Do Revenge premieres is now on Netflix!

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