This weekend, all the hot people were watching the new teen vengeance movie from Netflix, Do Revenge. It stars Maya Hawke as gay social outcast Eleanor and Riverdale’s Camila Mendes as revenge porn victim Drea, who team up to take out each other’s bullies. The movie, which was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s 1951 thriller Strangers on A Train and has been heavily compared to Mean Girls, has been taking over social media the last few days for its iconic popular girl preppy fashions; references to movies such as Clueless, Bring It On, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, Cruel Intentions and Heathers, and even a cameo from 90s It-girl Sarah Michelle Gellar. The SMG-renaissance we’ve been yearning for is here!
Clearly Do Revenge comes off the back of a slew of 90s and 00s movies that provided the blueprint for iconically tyrannical queen bees, nerd-to-hottie makeovers and deliciously chaotic revenge plots. Here are seven that are well worth watching.
Jawbreaker (1999)
Rose McGowan is the OG Regina George in this clique-y high school crime comedy about a group of popular girls who accidentally murder one of their besties when they fake kidnap her for her birthday surprise. Courtney, played by Rose, forces the other girls to lie about what actually happened and in order to keep Fern (a dorky, accidental witness to their actions) quiet, they give her a makeover and a fresh start at the top of the school social hierarchy. But as Courtney becomes increasingly ruthless, the girls seek a way to finally take her down and pay for her actions. The movie was negatively reviewed upon release (how!) but has since been dubbed a cult classic and one of its most iconic lines – “I made you, and I can break you just as easily” – is even referenced in Do Revenge.
Teeth (2007)
This biting (sorry) comedy horror follows Dawn, a spokesperson for a Christian abstinence group, who discovers something unique about herself after an attempted date rape. Turns out she has vagina dentata, a fabled disorder enabling women to castrate men using secret fangs in their vagina. But what starts out as Dawn’s terrifying affliction soon becomes her biggest weapon against a society plagued by sexual assault, manipulation and a lack of consent. Watch this iconic yet harrowing movie and you will never listen to Lady Gaga sing the lyric “show me your teeth” the same again.
Jennifer’s Body (2009)
Megan Fox’s magnus opus, Jennifer’s Body is a revenge thriller famed for its impeccable style, iconic one-liners and, mostly, for being a badass feminist cult movie. After cheerleader Jennifer and her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) go to a concert one night, Jennifer disappears with the visiting boyband and clearly some bad shit goes down. She returns covered in blood, vomiting black stuff and with a ravenous hunger for local boy flesh. Revenge never tasted so sweet.
The Craft (1996)
Sarah (Robin Tunney) – a witch, but she doesn’t really know it yet – starts at a new school where she soon finds common ground with a group of outsiders who also have a penchant for the occult. As a quartet, the group can be their strongest Wiccan selves, but things turn eerie when their absolute power, magic-made beauty and revenge plans begin to quickly spiral out of control. Other teen coven members include Scream’s Neve Campbell and Fairuza Baulk (Almost Famous), alongside Riverdale’s Skeet Ulrich and Breckin Meyer (Clueless).
Election (1999)
We don’t talk enough about how chic Reese Witherspoon’s 90s and 00s filmography was. Fear, Cruel Intentions, Legally Blonde – all certifiably flawless classics. Satirical high school revenge comedy Election fits neatly in this category, too, with Reese playing Tracy Flick, an annoyingly over-achiever teen who wants to run for student body president. This, in turn, particularly angers the social studies teacher, played by Mathew Broderick, who hatches a plan to tamper with the results and stop Tracy from winning the election. Strangely prescient, the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Screenplay and Reese received a Golden Globe Best Actress nomination. Robbed, we say!
John Tucker Must Die (2006)
Teen heartthrob Jesse Metcalfe plays the titular John Tucker – a serial high school fuckboy seeing multiple girls from different cliques so that they will never find out. That is, until he’s caught in his lies by resident school loser Kate (Brittany Snow). After telling John’s girlfriends Heather (Ashanti), Beth (Sophia Bush) and Carrie (Arielle Kebbel) about his transgressions, the group plans their vengeance: break his heart by getting him to fall for a makeover-transformed Kate. Also starring in the 00s masterpiece is Penn Badgley from You and Jenny McCarthy of “good luck with Sharknado 18” fame.
Bound (1996)
The manifestation of “be gay, do crime”, this sapphic neo-noir crime movie – the directorial debut of the Wachowskis – follows the alluring Violet (Jennifer Tilly) as she starts a love affair with ex-con Corky (Gina Gershon) and makes a plan to leave her abusive mafia boyfriend Caesar (Joe Pantoliano of The Matrix), steal $2 million from his boss and start a new life with Corky by her side. The directors struggled to cast the movie due to the queer sex scenes upon its release it was acclaimed for it’s Hitchcockian cinematography and Tarantino-esque story.
Follow i-D on Instagram and TikTok for more on 90s and 00s movies.