Mom, can we have a sleepover?
A review of Netflix's 'Do Revenge'
The Yearning Rating: ✰✰½
Romance ✰✰
Sex ✰
Storytelling ✰✰✰½
Performance ✰✰✰✰
Yearning ✰✰
Sometimes, a film calls for a thoughtful and analytical review. But other times, it calls for a gab sesh between friends. It was our feeling that Netflix’s Do Revenge fell into the latter camp. The following review was transcribed and edited down from a conversation between The Yearning’s co-authors, Meg Heim and Ali Romig.
(Spoilers ahead.)
Ali: So, we’re all dying to know, what did you think of the movie?
Meg: I think I liked it more than you did. I thought it was lighthearted and fun and it’s always going to feel very important to me to have b*tchy rich people f**king sh*t up on screen, and I liked that there were some gay b*tchy rich people f**king sh*t up on screen.
A: Hold on, I have to dig into that for a second and ask, why is it important for you to see b*tchy rich people f**king sh*t up?
M: Of course. I think it actually plays into the queer trope of having “mommy issues.”
A: Revenge mommy issues.
M: I feel like some people really get off on a hot, intimidating person, who is advantaged in every way and is still not nice or maybe is even…kind of evil? And I personally think that it is inherently queer to lust over something like that — and this took it one step further. I feel like the movie that would’ve come out twenty years ago would’ve had a hot, b*tchy, rich character that was straight, and queer people would’ve lusted over them anyway…
A: I mean, Sarah Michelle Gellar in Cruel Intentions.
M: Exactly, exactly! And this is the point where, much like you acknowledged in your review last week that you’d never seen the 1992 version of A League of Their Own, I must admit I have never seen Cruel Intentions. I know it’s one of your favorite movies, and it’s on my list. But I know the premise and I know that [SMG] plays very much that role. So to me, it’s like we’ve jumped forward twenty years, and it’s allowed us to not just lust after the hot, b*tchy person on-screen, but to have them also be queer. It feels like we’re furthering the fantasy, you know what I mean?
A: The full fantasy.
M: It’s not necessarily my fantasy, but I have it on record that there are people in my community whose fantasy this is.
A: You could name drop if you wanted to.
M: [Redacted]
A: I agree with what you're saying, it was a fun romp. There’s a reason we’re making this newsletter sleepover themed. It is very reminiscent of those movies we all grew up watching with our friends, and we’d quote back and forth to one another. And I was so on board for it for the first half, the first two-thirds, even. I loved the aesthetic, I loved the characters, Maya Hawke [who played Eleanor] was working, Camila Mendes [who played Drea] was working. I loved the pastels and the references and that they were both unapologetically b*tchy, and it didn’t have to be, going back to Cruel Intentions, the Reese Witherspoon-virginal-good-girl balancing the Sarah Michelle Gellar-doing-coke-out-of-her-rosary-bad-girl. They could all be everything and I appreciated that and I was so ready to love it, but what I have to say is that it completely broke down for me in the last third of the film.
M: I completely agree.
A: Like the Gone Girl-esque twist, I’m sorry, didn’t work for me. I think on paper the twist is great, but something was lost in the execution. And then everything that happened after the twist felt like a different movie, almost. It kind of lost some of its fun trying to balance being both farcical and these big, teary-eyed moments, and in my opinion, it didn’t strike the right chord. I think the characters' actions stopped feeling motivated at that point, and became a bit more convenient, or obviously contrived. I’m sorry to keep bringing up Cruel Intentions, but the last bit of this film felt like a direct reference to that movie’s (absolutely iconic) ending, and all the elements were technically there. But by that point I almost wanted the movie to let go of those references and become its own thing. The filmmakers could’ve used the ending to say, “yes, we are doing a Gen Z version of the 90s staple teen comedy, but we’re also making our own mark in this way.” But instead they just continued to reference — I thought that hindered the storytelling.
M: I was going to say that as well! About three-fourths of the way through was when things fell flat for me. I mean, what do we love Maya Hawke for? We love her for how charming she is, how goofy, and how fresh and vulnerable she can be. I didn’t necessarily feel like I bought her as a cartoonish villain, standing in Camila Mendes’ kitchen, with the smoke billowing around her. (Like the atmosphere was way too high in that scene.) Maybe it was farcical, like you said, but it just felt…off. And then with the car crash, I was kind of mad that they didn’t fully commit to that. Like if you’re going to cause a car crash, let it be a real car crash. Afterwards, Drea was just kind of lying in a hospital bed, unscathed?
A: My feeling is, if you’re gonna be awful, be awful. It’s not that I think Maya Hawke couldn't have pulled off a direction of pure villainy, but the fact that the filmmakers didn’t quite commit to pushing her in that direction made it feel like they weren’t sure what tone they were going for. I guess I felt like maybe I lost the plot at that point–maybe the movie didn’t, but as a viewer, I did.
M: And that was when I started to feel a little distracted, too. Like the first thirty-minutes of the movie, I was like, “yes!” So zippy, I’m into it, I’m following it, I’m not even bothered by the voiceovers, which you know I don’t like.
A: Voiceover was a huge part of all of those older movies.
M: But by the end, those little things started to bother me a little bit more because it all just felt half baked. The one aspect of the twist that I really enjoyed was that finally it resonated with me that Eleanor owned a reptile. Like there was that one amazing shot of her bearded dragon (Oscar Winner Olivia Coleman) on the TV stand looking so gorgeous and Eleanor stroking her. Like, that’s good.
A: I guess part of me felt like–and this is the most quote-unquote critical thing I’ll say, because I’m really not trying to poo-poo on anyone’s good time and the movie is a good time–but it felt to me like a feature film length version of Ariana Grande’s ‘Thank U Next’ music video, where it’s just mining nostalgia in a fun, stylized, updated way.
M: Right. Some of the references to 90s and 2000s teen movies felt very intentional and thoughtful, and then some of them were just in there to have it be so nostalgic that you’re like, “oh, that!” But I appreciated the effort. I also came away from it thinking this is a great sleepover movie because it’s something to squeal at. It’s recognizable, with plenty of easter eggs to get a collective “OMG!” circulating.
A: As I mentioned earlier, sometimes the references felt like they were undermining the character development.
M: I think that’s especially true in Eleanor’s case. She felt a little lost. Like you said, she jumped back and forth between being like, “I have the upper hand,” and then crying in the courtyard about Drea forgetting her birthday. And while I do believe it’s true that teenage girldom can contain both of those extremes, I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if they had just run away with the villain arc and let it get a little unrealistic, or even ridiculous. I would’ve liked it better if they had killed Max [Austin Abrams], gotten away with it somehow, and then still ended up at Ivy Leagues. I would’ve loved that, personally.
A: That should’ve been how the ending unraveled. They find out that they were double playing each other and then realize, wait why are we taking each other down when we really should just be murdering this guy. Like a YA Fingersmith.
M: That would also feel like a reference to Jennifer’s Body, even. Like, ultimately we do need to kill the toxic straight white guy. Also, he looks thirty-six years old.
A: Well, they all do.
M: They all look so old, but particularly the boys. Max looked thirty-seven. I would say that Russ [Rish Shah] looked thirty-five.
A: Yeah, there was one shot of Drea and Russ in bed together, and I was like, these are not teenagers, these are thirty-somethings who’ve been married for two years and are relaxing in their starter home/beachside bungalow.
M: Across the board I felt like they were all a little too self-aware for high schoolers. Especially Max, when he was on his little rooftop with Eleanor being like, “you know, I’d give this all up if I could.” Maybe this level of self-awareness resonates more with a Gen Z audience, but for me, I would’ve loved to see them all richer and stupider, and that would’ve juiced it up for me.
A: It was still super fun though.
M: I also wrote down, on two separate occasions, “obsessed with Maya Hawke.” I do just love her.
A: I mean honestly, I thought Camila Mendes did a great job. Whereas I didn’t quite buy it from Maya Hawke, I think Camila played the vulnerable villain really well.
M: What did you think of Eleanor’s love interest, Gabbi [Talia Ryder]?
A: That character was so underdeveloped, I honestly couldn’t remember her name. But in the end, that didn’t bother me. I think I was maybe expecting a little bit more in the romance department, but the more I thought about it the more I realized the movie didn’t need more romance. It’s a teen comedy, a buddy comedy, it doesn’t need to be a romantic love story. I also appreciated that the movie had a queer character where their journey wasn’t about falling in love or discovering their sexuality. She just was queer. But to circle back - I honestly don’t have many thoughts on Gabbi.
M: She had some “Hey Mamas” vibes to me.
A: I think one thing about teen comedies is that they have the potential to become comfort movies, and while this may not become my comfort movie, or even something I ever watch again, I do think that actual teens might feel differently.
M: I agree, this isn’t that type of movie that immediately hits home for me, but I am also famously twenty-eight, so.
A: Right, I’m notoriously also in my late-twenties.
M: If there are any teens out there reading our newsletter, please reach out and put us in our place. Let us know if this is your comfort movie!
A: Okay, so before we wrap up, I must ask, because we are in our late-twenties and this is what we care about…
M: Yeah.
A: What was it like seeing Ms. Sarah Michelle Gellar [who played the headmistress] back on your screen.
M: Oh my God. Thank you so much for bringing her up. It was an absolute delight. I wish she had more screen time. It was such a pleasure seeing her behind a desk.
A: She is the rich, intimidating, hot woman that you are looking to lust over.
M: It’s true. And maybe what this is all coming down to is that there is some part of me that wants that and I’m just trying to lay it on other people and not own up to it. Maybe I’m just not being honest. And that’s okay.
A: This was the first leg of [SMG’s] comeback tour. She posted a cryptic photo on Instagram in what looks like an “arson investigator” jacket.
M: Oh, network television.
A: She’s definitely making her way back to our screens in some way, and if nothing else we can thank Do Revenge for kicking off her renaissance.
Did you enjoy this review? Did you think we sounded like jaded millennials? Either way, we’d love to hear from you in the comments section!