Netflix's 'Do Revenge' Is a Dark, Teen Comedy That Is Cathartic For Anyone Who Has Been Bullied

Do Revenge is for the bullied. The words said, actions taken, and rumors created by teenage girls pierce deep within. They can be evil, resulting in a trauma that lingers; a wound that turns into a scar. The bullies never remember their actions years later, but the bullied like myself still do. We all thought about revenge, enacting the justice they were never served. Like the leads in Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s latest, we wanted to burn them to the ground. Do Revenge is both a Gen Z answer to the ’90s and 2000s teen comedies we grew up with, but also one that honors the resilience of those whose school years were hell to go through.

Under a pastel, cotton candy-coated aesthetic we are introduced to the elite of Rosehill high school. As described by its Queen Bee, Drea (Camila Mendes), the measure of success at school isn’t like the teen movie you know. The clique you’re in, the accolades you have, or the wealth your family has doesn’t matter. To measure your success depends on if someone wants to destroy you, and at Rosehill, everyone wants a piece of the one on top. Unlike her friends on the school’s entitled royal court, Drea hasn’t had the privilege of wealth aiding her. She’s had to rely on her smarts, crafting the perfect life in her own DIY way. But her reign ends unceremoniously when Rosehill’s golden boy, her boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams), leaks an intimate video of her for the whole school to see. No punishment for the rich, cis white guy in the situation of course, but Drea is stuck doing community service after she retaliates by, justifiably, socking him in the jaw. “So much for believing women,” she says.

One person that does take her side, though, is new girl Eleanor (Maya Hawke). She knows all too well what it’s like to be backstabbed by someone you thought you could trust. As a queer character, her experience of coming out and being ostracized will hit hard for those like myself who experienced the same. The pair are both so fed up — “wounded soldiers on the battlefield of adolescence,” as Eleanor puts it — that they decide to team up and do each other’s revenge. However, as entertaining as their ploy may be, they’ll learn that despite the sweetness of revenge, healing won’t come easy.

Robinson and Celeste Ballard’s script is a whip-smart dark comedy. It does start to lose steam after a while, but then we’re hit with a surprising twist that affords its lengthy runtime. The script digs deep into the darker side of high school and what teens need to navigate on top of everything else. While bullying and its effects are at the forefront of the story, it also lays out the truth of high school for what it really is: an orchestra of meticulously curated personas. Everyone is pretending to be someone they’re not in order to impress, to hide parts of themselves to fit in, or play the parts our parents want us to. It’s all performative, and seeing Eleanor and Drea strip that away of the most privileged is so satisfying and a clever takedown of the patriarchy. The film also emphasizes that the pressure to figure out who we are so early is unfair. It’s all Ivy League all the time and nothing else. We can’t know who we are and what we want to do until we live first; until we drive off, car top down with the wind in our hair, to destinations unknown.

The chemistry between Mendes and Hawke is off the charts. Their characters seem like a very unlikely duo, with Eleanor’s very chill vibes in contrast to the made-up-to-nines Drea. But their differences are complementary. They both evolve as people through their friendship and what they bring out in one another. The pair get so many gratifying “queen shit” moments, popping off just as hard as the soundtrack, and it’s a thrill to watch their claws come out. There are also a couple of stand-out cameos. Sophie Turner as Erica, who attends a tennis summer camp with Drea, gets in the crosshairs of Drea’s revenge high. She makes the most of her short turn, delivering the funniest scenes out of anyone. The most surprising cameo is Sarah Michelle Gellar. As an actor who’s appeared in her share of teen dramas, she’s a fitting addition as Rosehill’s headmaster. Still that bitch all these years later, Eleanor relatably expresses how she wants her to run her over with her tesla. If only we’d be worthy of that honor, but let’s hope we’ll get the honor of a big screen comeback from the star.

What Do Revenge offers, other than a delightfully surprising viewing experience, is catharsis. Not only the catharsis of seeing these two girls do what we couldn’t but also the catharsis of seeing the peace that comes from the apology we didn’t get.