Netflix's new teen comedy 'Do Revenge' fully captures Generation Z humor

Movies targeting Generation Z are extremely easy to mess up, but Netflix managed to positively surprise us with its last dark comedy, “Do Revenge," starring Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke. This entertaining teen flick manages to capture Generation Z’s humor in a nutshell, even if it’s not what we want to hear.

This 2-hour film is overrun with trendy outfits, insane characters, amazing music, movie references and even some reflection, and it’s perfect for those who want a quick break from real life.

The movie starts off with a classic trope: the fall of the popular girl. Drea (Mendes), the queen at an elite private school, gets her sex tape leaked by her boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams), which leads to her falling low on the social ladder.

Meanwhile, Max refuses to acknowledge his part in any of it, hiding behind an ally-progressive-heterosexual-boy persona that everybody seems to love and cherish, while Drea loses all her friends and her chances of getting into Yale. This causes a very distressed (and very much insane) Drea to make a revenge pact with their school’s new girl, Eleanor (Hawke). 

The pact was simple: Do each other’s revenge so that it could not be traced back to them. Drea would help destroy Carissa, the farm girl who outed Eleanor when she was 13 and consequently destroyed her life, and Eleanor would bring Max down from the inside by infiltrating Drea’s old friend group and exposing him as the sexist liar that he truly was.

The insanity that brought the girls together also worked to build a strong friendship between the main characters. But like every teen interaction ever, things take a huge turn to the left.

“Do Revenge” managed to do what no Netflix movie had been able to do in a while: present us with a decent movie targeting Generation Z. Not only that, but it was also done and portrayed in a way that reminds us of the 90s and 2000s movies we all love and remember from our childhoods.

“Clueless,” “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Scream” are some of the titles that come to mind with the countless (and mostly hidden) references to the classics in "Do Revenge." If you're in your teens and 20s, you will most definitely feel seen.

Besides that, it just hits the spot cinematically with a good amount of comedy, darkness, insanity and an amazing wardrobe featuring lots of pastels. And the cherry on top? The movie has a killer soundtrack. Songs like “brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo, “dumb dumb” by mazie and “Happier Than Ever” by Billie Eilish show how well catered to Generation Z the production was. 

The whole movie also serves well as a parody of today’s youth. The exaggeration of cancel culture is also a very present theme, which we can see with Drea’s social exclusion as well as her academic opportunities being shut down.

Besides that, the intense sarcasm and irony, the new types of cliques (mostly represented mostly by Allegra the Instagram Witch), the idea of fake wokeness and even the choices of fashion are all interesting ways of portraying the problems with young people nowadays. Which is amusing, especially if you are immersed in internet culture.

But what’s most exciting and refreshing about this movie is that you're never expecting what’s coming next. Plots, character developments, lines, interactions — it’s all a surprise, and even when you think you know where things are going, you get hit with a plot twist that makes you rethink your entire life.

Moreover, all the characters are complex, intriguing and, in some cases, very relatable. Drea’s classic line, “Sometimes it just hurts to exist, you know?” is something many people can relate to, and the fact that everybody has issues is very present in the story.

Overall, this movie is unexpectedly great. Trying to capture a whole generation’s humor and culture, especially at a time when everything changes so quickly, is incredibly hard. But somehow, Netflix delivered a funny yet original teen comedy that keeps you glued to the screen and shows the real humor and culture of Generation Z. 

“Do Revenge” is definitely a candidate to enter the “classics list” someday because it has everything a good 90s flick has: great plot, connection to the audience and killer outfits.