Do Revenge

Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, Do Revenge follows two high schoolers (Camila Mendes’ Drea and Maya Hawke’s Eleanor) as they work together to achieve payback against those that have wronged them. It’s a familiar yet workable premise that’s employed to predominantly (and often astonishingly) unwatchable effect by Robinson, as the filmmaker, armed with her and Celeste Ballard’s superficial screenplay, delivers a sluggish and hopelessly dumbed-down endeavor that strikes all the wrong notes right from the get-go – with the movie’s arms-length atmosphere perpetuated by a preponderance of decidedly lackluster elements. (This is particularly true of the underwhelming, aggressively one-note efforts of stars Mendes and Hawke.) The padded-out narrative, which boasts a pair of hopelessly uninvolving romantic subplots, certainly contributes heavily to the picture’s progressively interminable vibe, while the laughable inclusion of so-called “hip” elements smacks of desperation and incompetence. (It often does feel as though Robinson and Ballard have punctuated the proceedings with buzzwords and behavioral ticks they’ve spotted online.) And although the movie admittedly does boast a surprising twist in its second half, Do Revenge’s absurd 118 minute running time ensures that it’s hardly able to pack the visceral punch one might’ve anticipated – which, when coupled with an almost extraordinarily anticlimactic final stretch, cements the film’s place as a misguided and misbegotten trainwreck of often impressive proportions.

* out of ****