Do Revenge (Jennifer Kaytin Robinson) [Archive]

Grouchy

12-05-2022, 05:58 PM

This rich highschool movie remake of Strangers on a Train (although it barely incorporates the premise and then goes on its own path) has a lot of good things going for it, but probably the best of them is Maya Hawke's jaw-dropping performance. The young actress is a win for nepotism everywhere as she brings the character of Eleanor to life making it impossible to remain indifferent to her plight and unusual dramatic arc. She has clearly had some excellent teachers and she plays a weirdo with the empathy and charisma of a young Sissy Spaceck or Shelley Duvall.

The movie is a little too long but the screenplay has a lot more going for it than it appears at first glance and its examination of revenge actually runs deeper than the one in more serious movies. One thing worth noting is that you can tell the script went through some budget-related re-writes - the film would make a lot more practical sense if it took place in a California college instead of a Florida highschool where probably none of the most popular people are really this woke.