Mean Girls has gone from page to screen to stage to screen again. Tina Fey’s classic has gained songs (by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin) and lost venom. Transfer student Cady Haron is mentored by the wealthy and vain Regina George. She benefits from her newfound popularity until she falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend. Regina takes this as a declaration of war. The subsequent feud forces Cady to find her inner mean girl.

The Broadway musical expanded the supporting roles, pushing Cady to the background. The same is true here. Angourie Rice’s dewy innocent is steamrolled by her brassy peers. Her singing is tentative and her turn towards villainy is over too fast. It doesn’t help that she’s motivated by a boy (Christopher Briney) so bland that he barely registers.

The real stars of Mean Girls are Reneé Rapp’s Regina and Auli’i Cravalho’s Janice. Rapp brings Regina an aggressive sexual energy. She cruises everyone in sight. Shippers will love the sapphic vibes between her and Cady and the sub/dom relationship with her sidekicks (anxious Bebe Woods and ditzy Avantika). She can be cruel when allowed but this remake is too nice in general.

Cravalho’s Janice, an emo artist, is magnetic. Newcomers may wonder why she isn’t the protagonist. It’s her grudge against Regina that drives the plot. Cravalho nails her songs, including the 11 o’clock number. Janice’s sexuality was ambiguous in past editions. Here she’s out and proud making this the queerest incarnation of the story. Her gay best friend (Jaquel Spivey) has lost his stage solos. But he’s allowed to narrate the story alongside her.  

Mean Girls was originally filmed for Paramount+. The cinematography seems tailored for the networks’ phone app. Characters often sing into their phones, reducing the screen image to a vertical window. The extreme close ups would make Tom Hooper blush. The dance numbers are performed in narrow hallways making long shots impossible. It looks clumsy and cramped on a big screen.

Mean Girls the Remake the Experience the Bisexual Awakening works best as a fan tribute. Newcomers can follow the story but will miss the cameos, Easter eggs and meta-references. The film has nothing to say about the evolution of bullies over the past two decades. All racist and homophobic slurs have been removed, suggesting that bigotry no longer exists at North Shore High. There’s a brief nod to cyber-bullying but it lacks the scope of real-world attacks. Ignoring the darker elements of the tale feels like a missed opportunity. But then, we’ve already got Heathers.

You can find more of my reviews on The Avocado, Letterboxd and Serializd. My podcast, Rainbow Colored Glasses, can be found here.