Warning: Spoilers for Do Revenge ahead.
Grab your emotional support lizards because Do Revenge is one campy, twisty ride filled with ‘90s nostalgia, sick burns and — most importantly — payback (and some fun Teen Vogue nods for good measure). Spearheaded by Someone Great triple threat Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, the Netflix film is teeming with iconic movie references ranging from Fatal Attraction to Clueless. Basically, it’s millennial bait for anyone who lived for butterfly clips, tartan minis, and feather pens.
In the stylish dark comedy that has all the makings of a Gen Z cult-classic, Do Revenge details the bond between fallen queen bee Drea (played by Camila Mendes) and awkward new student Eleanor (Stranger Things star Maya Hawke) and their quest to seek vengeance — the former for her ex-boyfriend leaking her sex tape and the latter for the summer camp crush that spread a nasty rumor that is haunting her. The result is a film that will have you rooting for them, against them, and quoting them for years to come.
With Do Revenge out today, September 16, we've compiled a complete guide to all of the iconic movie references scattered throughout the film — and there are many. Get ready to make “revenge mommy” your signature catchphrase.
Clueless
There is so much Clueless in this movie. Let's start with the style — the bold pop of color and even Drea's sheer shirt in the opening few scenes instantly recalls Cher's failed driving test look in Clueless. There’s also the sea of tartan minis that recalls Cher and Dionne’s outfits, along with Valley Girl-esque vocal fry that’s replicated in Do Revenge.
On that note, every great '90s movie has a memorable makeover scene, and Tai's transformation from tomboy to chic in Clueless is paralleled in Do Revenge when Drea gives Eleanor a makeover. It’s especially apparent that the Clueless montage inspired this makeover moment when Drea pencils in Eleanor's lipstick while her hair is twisted up in a towel.
There’s another specific scene that prompted some serious flashbacks to the 1995 teen classic: when Eleanor, new to Rosehill Country Day School, is given an outdoor overview of the school's cliques by Gabbi (Talia Ryder), the same way Cher and Dionne introduce Tai to Bronson Alcott High School. When Gabbi introduces Eleanor to the popular kids, they’re lounging together on an opulent fountain a la Cher's clique in Clueless. And Drea's ex-boyfriend Max (Austin Abrams) gives real Elton vibes with his slicked-back ‘90s hair and overconfidence.
Cruel Intentions
Cruel Intentions is inarguably one of the biggest influences of Do Revenge. (Spoiler alert: The movie even cast Sarah Michelle Gellar as headmaster of Rosehill. Hello?) Almost instantly from the title card scene where Olivia Rodrigo’s “Brutal” soundtracks Eleanor driving a white Gran Torino convertible across a highway, it’s clear there’s a direct parallel to Cruel Intentions.
In the 1999 classic, the opening scene of the film features an overhead shot of Sebastian cruising in his beloved Jaguar convertible on a highway — and the film famously ends with his mark-turned-lover Annette Hargrove driving away in it as well.
The end of Cruel Intentions where the entire student body shuns Kathryn after being made aware of her conniving actions is a direct parallel to the end of Do Revenge where Max is exposed to an entire party for leaking Drea’s sex tape, thanks to a video recorded by Eleanor. But beyond these specific scenes, the very core of Do Revenge recalls the duplicitous trickery of Kathryn and Sebastian, though Drea and Eleanor have more legitimate reasoning for their revenge plots.
But I'm a Cheerleader
Do Revenge's reference to But I'm a Cheerleader isn't exactly a plot point — it's in the aesthetic. Do Revenge is brimming with pastel landscapes, very Madonna Inn-meets-Palm Beach. From the headmaster’s pink shell chairs to the school uniforms that pair lavender hair ribbons and mint green minis, Do Revenge immediately recalls the pastel-soaked palette of Jamie Babbitt’s 1999 satire But I’m a Cheerleader and the myriad rainbow colors that represent queerness.
Mean Girls
Mean Girls tells the story of not one, but two dethroned queen bees. Both Regina George and Cady Heron experience the spotlight of being high school “it” girls and falling from grace, as does Drea. Eleanor's queen bee transformation is much like Cady. Though she essentially becomes popular to expose Max, she ends up drinking the Kool-Aid herself. There's also the literal aspect of Drea's former bitchpack acting much like Regina’s two-faced crew. Plus, it’s impossible to miss Drea muse, “Isn't Eleanor so pretty?” in the fake-nice Mean Girls tone at the admissions party.
Jawbreaker
Not only does Do Revenge make a direct callback to Jawbreaker with the line “I created you and I can just as easily destroy you," (“I made you, I can just as easily break you," is the original line), but the film is centered around popularity and having the popular girl(s) makeover nerdy Fern Mayo. There’s also a whole inside-job subplot to take down mean girl Courtney by Fern and her ex-BFF Julie.
Thelma & Louise
This one is pretty obvious. Do Revenge, at its core, is about not only an unlikely female bond but a tale of feminist revenge. While this movie includes a lot more sweater vests and a lot less cut-offs, like Thelma and Louise, Drea and Eleanor are both out to take their power back. And they’re doing it while cruising in something like a Ford Thunderbird convertible — however, there's no driving-off-the-cliff element to it, at least not literally.
Never Been Kissed
Both Never Been Kissed's undercover reporter-turned-high school student Josie and Do Revenge's Eleanor are molded into very curated, effortlessly cool versions of themselves to fit in with the popular kids. Ultimately they end up losing themselves in the process. Oh, and those popular kids in Do Revenge? They act a lot like the “lemmings” in Never Been Kissed.
Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion
Not only does Romy and Michele’s deep bond parallel the friendship between Drea and Eleanor, but the Senior Ring Ceremony dinner scene, parallels the dreamy ‘80s-meets-’90s sheen of the titular reunion in Romy and Michele's High School Reunion. Drea’s ensemble in particular, a monochromatic bright blue number with her hair pinned in a spiky bun, recalls Romy’s iconic reunion look.
10 Things I Hate About You
Much of the premise of 10 Things I Hate About You is based on high school duplicity and manipulation. It’s less about revenge — except for Joey, who hates Kat and gets her sister Bianca to go to prom with him as an added bonus — and more about status. But there is one moment in Do Revenge that seems directly inspired by 10 Things I Hate About You: when Kat and Patrick go paintballing together on a date. In Do Revenge, Drea and Russ (Rish Shah) ditch class and throw paint balloons at blank canvases, and while covered in paint like Kat and Patrick, they hook up.
Jennifer's Body
In Jennifer’s Body, Jennifer is essentially violated and destroyed by a group of guys who only seek power. What happens when she becomes a succubus? She kills boys. With Do Revenge, Drea is violated the second Max shares a private video with the school. To take her power back, she plans to take down Max with Eleanor's help. (Hell is a teenage girl, and in this case, two girls.) Bonus: there also happens to be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment of Erica painting an image of Drea that looks a whole lot like the demonic Jennifer Check.
Election
While there isn’t a particular scene that parallels Election, main character Tracy Flick’s laser-focused ambition and win-at-all-costs energy is certainly filtered into Drea, who has worked tirelessly to get into Yale — and then Harvard Law — and will not let anything stand in her way.
Fatal Attraction
As Drea and Eleanor plot to take down Max and Carissa (Ava Capri) in a pretty pink school bathroom, Drea describes Eleanor as radiating “Glennergy,” her obsessive urge to get revenge pouring out. Of course, she was referring to the Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction. In the 1987 film, Glenn plays a woman who becomes dangerously obsessed with the man she had an affair with.
John Tucker Must Die
After Drea's sex tape leaks, everyone takes Max’s side. But Eleanor discovers Max has been cheating on his current girlfriend and Drea’s ex-BFF Tara (Alisha Boe) with the school’s Instagram witch. He's also been sleeping with countless people at the school, each from a different clique. Eleanor and Drea leak the texts to the entire school, thinking he’ll be seen for the jerk he truly is — and he is for about five minutes, until he spins the story that he’s ethically-non-monogamous with Tara. The students quickly move from angry to enthralled at the prospect of sleeping with him —just like how John Tucker thrived off of his philandering ways.
Heathers
The black comedy Heathers is the blueprint for a plethora of teen satires. And Do Revenge grandly follows in its footsteps with its revenge plot. Heather, like Drea, wants to get revenge on her inner circle. While Do Revenge doesn’t include murder, it does feature Eleanor hitting Drea with her car and putting her in the hospital. Plus, the Netflix movie pulled directly from Heathers for its own croquet scene, an apt metaphor for the scheming beneath the surface.
Promising Young Woman
The very basis of Promising Young Woman is payback. A woman seeks to avenge her best friend, whose rape was watched and recorded by several male classmates. The level of anger and desire for justice is evoked in Do Revenge, and the film also channels Promising Young Woman through its bold color choices and statement pieces. There’s also a point where Eleanor has moved beyond faking being a part of the popular crowd to fully believing she’s one of them. When Gabbi points out how she’s lost herself, Eleanor, upset, smears lipstick across in the mirror just as Cassie does in the 2020 film.