“Revancha ya”: the Netflix youth drama that abandons the clichés of the adolescent genre

Camila Mendez Y maya hawke check in revenge now (Do Revenge) They have an enviable chemistry in front of the cameras. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the film by Netflix unites black humor and teenage stories to give rise to a story that avoids clichés and everything predictable in the youth genre. It all starts when Drea, the most popular girl in school, is publicly humiliated when a private video that she sent to her boyfriend is released. After meeting Eleanor, another young woman who also suffered from social rejection, both devise an infallible plan of revenge.

At a prestigious high school, Drea (Mendes) has given it her all to excel and soon become an admitted student at Yale. She is in love with Max (austin abrams), but he betrays her by deliberately broadcasting a sexual video of her and does not suffer the consequences of his actions because… he is a white boy, wealthy and wields great power over the most attractive and enviable group in the school.

During summer vacation, Drea attends the tennis club and unexpectedly meets Eleanor (Hawke), an alt-style loser whose only company is a pet bearded dragon. Later, she tells him that she will be transferring to her school as well, but is uncomfortable meeting her ex-girlfriend Carissa (ava capri), who mistreated her in the past. On the first day of school, the protagonists realize that the only way to make their aggressors pay is by helping each other, since no one knows they are friends.

A story told from a centennial perspective

revenge now It has a strong influence from generation Z to place its characters and establish scenarios in which Drea and Eleanor unmask their classmates. Thus, we find the aggressor male student who plays at being deconstructed, the best friend who ignores the seriousness of a violation of privacy, the lesbian girl who did not mind taking her partner out of the closet, among others.

In addition to being an excellent dark and comic ingredient, the dynamic of Drea and Eleanor is sustained in common situations that they lived despite being very different. The latter is a rich girl who lives in a huge house and, on the other hand, her new friend tried very hard to get a scholarship because she only allows herself to think about a professional future. The pressures on both are different, one seeks to be someone in social terms and the other already is, but she does not have the same opportunities.

When Eleanor completely transforms, she’s not only trying out a side that doesn’t belong to her, she’s also exploring what it’s really like to have a social life. Meanwhile, Drea leaves behind her prejudices about people outside of her social groups and falls head over heels in love with her for the first time. The breaking point occurs when Drea crosses her line by demanding more from Eleanor, and Eleanor ends up abandoning her to choose Max’s group.

At that moment, Drea has a moment of realization and goes after the clues to learn the truth: Eleanor does not say who she is. Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson sets up a perfect plot twist to make one of the leads the perfect villain, so cold and calculating that she has been plotting her revenge from the shadows for a long time. This is how this friendship is destroyed, leaving only a trace of hatred and rancor. Although the incredible moments they had together remain deep in the heart.

The end of revenge now ends up forgetting the initial idea of ​​revenge to exercise justice against the most vile being in high school: Max. In defeating this common enemy for all the women in the school, Drea and Eleanor get back on their feet to focus only on living the way they want and sharing a close friendship. The hugely influential soundtrack centennial (Olivia Rodrigo, Muna, Rosalía, etc) says goodbye with the classic 90s song “Bitch”, by Meredith Brooks.

The film starring Camila Mendes and Maya Hawke premiered this September 16 at Netflix.

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