Do Revenge: Thrillers Aren't Always Set At Night

This movie follows the story of dethroned queen bee Drea Torres (Camila Mendes) and the unlikely partnership she forges with unassuming transfer student Eleanor Levetan (Maya Hawke) to get revenge on the people who've wronged them both.

It was arguably one of the better teen movies from this decade that I've seen. As a satire, the characters and plotlines were purposefully outlandish. The movie wasn't meant to be taken seriously, which I enjoyed because it otherwise would've been embarrassing. It pays homage to the genre's predecessors, like 1980's "Heathers" and early 2000's "Mean Girls". The cinematography and costume design were amazingly used tools, meant to disguise sociopathy with pastel color schemes and tropical Miami.

The ending could be reviewed either positively or negatively. Spoiler alert: Drea and Eleanor are successful in their plan, but they themselves are conveniently exempt from any form of punishment; there wasn't really any character growth from either. However, this movie had no intention of seeming plausible, which is how they triumphed despite being terrible people. It made me think that they weren't supposed to learn from their mistakes.

There was a really big plot twist in this movie that actually caught me off guard, which I didn't think this genre could do anymore. It was a great break from the recent mediocrity of Netflix teen movies. It was playful and mocking of the traditional teen drama, which I found ironic because Camila Mendes also stars in "Riverdale", the epitome of a cringy teen drama. Despite honoring the past, the movie also stayed relevant with its tropes: the danger of fake social awareness, the difficulties of homosexuality, and the importance of supporting sexual harassment survivors. It's definitely worth the watch because I'm sure it'll surprise you too.