5 highschool revenge films that present hell is a teenage lady

They stroll down the college hallway in gradual movement, excellent outfits, hair billowing within the draft. No one crosses them, as a result of crossing them would imply sure loss of life — or worse, loss of life of social standing. Everyone hates them. Everyone needs to be them.

The Heathers, The Plastics, you identify it: Each technology has a film devoted to the gorgeous imply ladies of highschool. They have extra chew than in cozy rom-coms or nostalgia-fueled coming-of-age movies, and infrequently, the women are out for blood, be it by means of social sabotage or literal homicide.

This subgenre has a wickedly enjoyable time with the conventions of teenage girlhood, particularly in relation to the design decisions. These films are united in iconic trend and particular visible palettes that play with the favored aesthetic conventions of their respective time durations. They carry an edge and a hardness to parts usually related to diminutive girlhood, be it daring lipstick, pink mini skirts, or purple scrunchies.

But much more central than the distinct visible motifs are the feminine relationships on the middle of those films. The most catastrophic and disarming relationships these ladies have are with one another, and these relationships are concurrently their saving grace and supreme downfall. And that thread stitches the extra over-the-top parts with grounded relatability — demon-possesed greatest pals who eat boys aren’t precisely widespread, however poisonous greatest pals who put others all the way down to climb over them are.

With its pastel-swathed costumes and conniving lead duo, Netflix’s Do Revenge is a worthy entry into the style. In honor of those black comedies that aren’t afraid to indicate the darkish aspect of highschool recognition, we’ve chosen some quintessential classics within the canon of ruthless teenage ladies.

Heathers (1988)

winona ryder as veronica, wearing funeral black, sitting next to a smirking JD in a church pew

The film that began all of it was truly a box-office bomb. But regardless of not even making again half its funds, Heathers turned a cult traditional. Writer Daniel Waters meant the film to satirize how the media sensationalized teen suicides, and to be a darker counterpart to the usually saccharine depictions of highschool life within the Eighties. (Hello, John Hughes.) And whereas that will’ve been controversial — Winona Ryder’s agent begged her to not take the function — it sparked for audiences at house.

Heathers follows Veronica Sawyer (Winona Ryder), the fourth member of a ruthless mean-girl clique often called the Heathers (for the reason that different three are all named Heather). She’s a reluctant follower, as a result of she is aware of siding with the Heathers and serving to them forge corridor passes and excuse notes is healthier than being their goal. But she finds herself drawn to rebellious new scholar J.D. (Christian Slater), and after the chief of the Heathers activates Veronica, she and J.D. hatch a plan. What was purported to be a innocent prank turns right into a homicide, and shortly Veronica finds herself masking up a string of our bodies and disguising them as suicides. J.D.’s plans develop extra sinister, the remaining two Heathers take care of a vacuum of energy, and Veronica tries to repair the whole lot that’s gone flawed.

While Heathers completely set the muse for any such film, it’s additionally notable for being the only instance on our listing that has a male character play a major function within the clique’s downfall. Still, the main focus comes again to Veronica, who claws her manner out of the favored clique after which out of J.D.’s misanthropic influences, and ultimately extends a hand to her former good friend Martha and the extra sympathetic Heather.

Heathers is obtainable to stream on Tubi and Prime Video.

The Craft (1996)

a group of four girls around a fiery summoning circle

Technically, The Craft is a supernatural horror film, not a darkish comedy, and technically, it isn’t about common ladies, a lot as it’s about imply ladies (don’t fear — we’ll get to Mean Girls in a bit). But it’s value together with on this listing due to how literal the “hell is a teenage girl” bit comes into play, and due to how a lot focus is on the interior dynamics of the good friend group in query. Also, it’s not significantly scary.

The Craft follows a gaggle of teenage witches who unlock highly effective magic with the intention to enact revenge on those that’ve wronged them and get what they need out of life. That magic ultimately causes their good friend group to fracture and splinter and eat itself alive. Like most of the different examples on this listing, it’s a gaggle of 4 ladies — three who already know one another, and a brand new interloper who disrupts the already established dynamics

As for the long-lasting and particular visible palette? It’s Catholic faculty uniforms, blended with some trad Goth parts. Since Heathers kicked off this style by positing a counterculture various to common Eighties teen films, it’s good to have an entry that truly embraced counterculture aesthetics.

The Craft is obtainable to stream on Paramount Plus.

Jawbreaker (1999)

three teenage girls in bright colors stand next to an open car trunk; two of them gag; the one in the center, who wears bright red, looks composed and almost bored

Jawbreaker is what would occur in Heathers if the opposite Heathers by accident killed their Queen Bee and tried to cowl it up. After a prank gone horribly flawed, the favored ladies of Reagan High scramble to cover their involvement in Liz Purr’s loss of life. Rose McGowan performs cutthroat imply lady Courtney Shayne, a foul bitch who bribes dorky Fern (Judy Greer) into retaining her mouth shut concerning the manslaughter by giving her an excessive makeover — even altering her identify to Vylette — and inducting her into the favored group. Meanwhile, Julie (Rebecca Gayheart), essentially the most sympathetic of the clique, falls out of favor with them.

With its brilliant pops of Y2K colour, Jawbreaker’s visible palette is daring and over-the-top, complementing the outlandish actions Courtney takes with the intention to preserve her standing as the preferred lady within the faculty (and blame Liz’s loss of life on another person). Meanwhile, Julie hatches a plan to show Courtney’s involvement to the entire faculty on promenade evening. (Big faculty dances are one other recurring theme in these films — a queen’s gotta have her official plastic crown, in spite of everything.)

Jawbreaker is obtainable to hire on Prime Video and YouTube.

Mean Girls (2004)

No one dies in Mean Girls — however that doesn’t make it any much less cutthroat. New lady Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) finds herself entangled with the preferred clique in class — The Plastics, dominated by Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Cady’s new good friend Janis (Lizzy Caplan) sees this as a possibility to take Regina down as soon as and for all, they usually hatch a scheme for Cady to infiltrate the group and destroy Regina. But the extra time Cady spends with Regina, the extra she begins to show right into a certifiable imply lady of her personal.

Even with no physique depend, Mean Girls’ intricate revenge plot, deal with social standing, and cruel verbal insults (and in addition the actual fact Regina will get hit by a bus), matches this listing. And the filmmakers positively acknowledge the greats that got here earlier than, with nods just like the plaid ’80s skirt that Regina disses (a mode in vogue throughout the Heathers period) to the scene the place she vegetation photocopied pages of the Burn Book across the faculty’s empty hallways (the same scene performs out in Jawbreaker).

Mean Girls is obtainable to stream on Netflix.

Jennifer’s Body (2009)

Many of those films flirted with sapphic subtext, be it Fern’s obsession with Liz Purr or Cady’s fixation on Regina George. But Jennifer’s Body embraces the inherent homoeroticism of being infatuated with the preferred and exquisite lady in class — or on this case, additionally having the most well liked lady be infatuated with you.

The studious Needy (Amanda Seyfried) and common Jennifer (Megan Fox) could not have a lot in widespread on the floor, however they’re the perfect of pals. One evening, after sneaking into a neighborhood dive bar, a skeevy indie band kidnaps Jennifer and makes use of her as a sacrifice for a demonic ritual — but it surely doesn’t fairly work, and Jennifer wakes up with a starvation for flesh.

As Jennifer goes round murdering and consuming boys, her energy grows — and the already poisonous friendship between her and Needy begins to disintegrate. There is not any central clique in Jennifer’s Body, however the deal with Needy and Jennifer’s intense friendship is sufficient to maintain it. Needy is the one individual for whom Jennifer resists her urge to kill, but additionally the individual whose life she most needs to destroy.

Jennifer’s Body is obtainable to stream on Prime Video.