What happens when you put the Heathers in pastels? The new Netflix movie Do Revenge explores just that. Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke star as two teen girls who have been ostracized by their peers due to situations out of their control. Rather than sit back and take it, a random meeting between the two results in them helping each other get revenge on their respective bullies.
The film was originally announced under the title Strangers by Variety in October 2020. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is the director and co-writer of the project, with Celeste Ballard (Space Jam: A New Legacy) as the other co-writer. Robinson’s initial directorial debut was with Netflix on the film Someone Great. She is credited with writing both Someone Great and Thor: Love and Thunder. The director serves as a producer on Do Revenge alongside Anthony Bregman (In the Heights, I’m Thinking of Ending Things) and Peter Cron (I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Someone Great, Joshua BachoveWelcome Home, The Sky Is Everywhere) is an executive producer.
Straighten your tie as we head to school and tell you everything there is to know about Do Revenge.
Do Revenge: The Plot
After two teen girls become social pariahs, they team up to take down the people that put them there. Drea (Camila Mendes), the long-time popular girl at the school, falls from her throne after her boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams) leaks an intimate video of her. Eleanor (Maya Hawke), the new transfer student, becomes a bottom feeder after her old bully, Carissa (Ava Capri), spreads a hateful rumor.
A chance meet-up results in the two striking a deal to “do revenge” on the other person’s enemy. Drea says they’ll start with Carissa since it’s easier to bring a girl down, whereas some work needs to be done to infiltrate Drea’s old life so Eleanor can expose Max for who he really is. While he tries to come across as a feminist, sharing your girlfriend’s private videos on the internet seems to negate that, and Drea wants everyone to know just who he really is.
The trailer shows a variety of sequences playing out, from Eleanor at a party with Max, Drea trying to get close to Carissa, and an incredibly well-dressed bearded dragon. Eleanor has a very Fleur Delacour (a character from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) moment, with the pastel blue hat, skirt, and matching cape as she gets close to Max, and Drea seems to dress down and try new activities in her efforts to befriend Carissa.
It isn’t revenge if something doesn’t go wrong. At times in the trailer, it looks like Max has one-upped the duo, getting ahead of them and derailing their plan. There’s a shaky scene of Drea in her car, which could hint at a car accident. She also seems to do little things that hurt others, like putting something in a kitchen pot, and a woman at the tennis club (who looks suspiciously like Sophie Turner) yells that Drea is framing her for something. Whatever the teens’ plan is, hopefully, it is successful in the end.
Do Revenge: The Cast
Camila Mendes is Drea, and Maya Hawke is Eleanor. Mendes rose to fame with The CW show Riverdalewhere she stars as Veronica. Audiences may also recognize her from the films Palm Springs, Dangerous Liesand The Perfect Date. Do Revenge will be her third film with the streamer. Hawke is known for her work as Robin in Stranger Things. The actress has also been in films like Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood and Fear Street: Part One – 1994.
Other cast members include Austin Abrams (Dash & Lily, Euphoria, Chemical Hearts) as Drea’s ex-boyfriend Max, Rish Shah (Ms. Marvel) as Russ, Eliza Bennett (Dynasty) as Jessica, Alisha Boe (Days of Our Lives, 13 Reasons Why) as Tara, Talia Ryder (West Side Story, Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between) as Gabbi, Paris Berelc (Alexa & Katie, Tall Girl) as Meghan, Jonathan Daviss (Outer Banks) as Elliot, Maia Reficco (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin) as Montana, Ava Capri (Love, Victor) as Carissa, Rachel Matthews (Happy Death Day, Looking for Alaska) as Allegra, and Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones, X-Men franchise) in an unnamed role.
Release Date
The film will be available to stream on September 16, 2022.
Everything Else We Know
Do Revenge is inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 film Strangers on a Train. Tennis star Guy Haines (Farley Granger) and wealthy psychopath Bruno Antony (Robert Walker) meet on a train. Haines wants to divorce his wife, tells Antony this, and the two decide to kill the other’s enemy. The movie ends with one of the men dying and the other refusing to talk to strangers on a train ever again. It’s clear where the inspiration for Do Revenge sits, with two teens who are strangers deciding to do each other’s revenge, but it is unclear if it was inspired by the entire plot.
The Hitchcock film isn’t the only inspiration the director took. In speaking with Vanity Fairshe notes she pulled from classic ’90s teen films like Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About Youand Cruel Intentions.
Is a dark comedy not sitting with you? Check out the rom-com hitting Netflix this month instead.
