Twenty years on from the original razor-sharp teen comedy drama that starred Lindsay Lohan comes this musical reboot that stays true to the 2004 movie while bringing the biting tone up to date.
The story – which was actually based on a book, Queen Bees and Wannabes, before it became a film and then a Broadway musical – remains the same. Teen Cady (Rice), who has been home schooled while living in Africa with her mother, starts attending an American high school and is befriended by outsiders Janis (Cravalho) and Damian (Spivey).
They point out the students to avoid – most notably the “Plastics”, a group of bitchy, image-obsessed girls led by queen bee Regina (Rapp). So when Regina invites Cady to join their clique, Janis eggs her on, hoping that Cady will infiltrate the group but not become like them. Throw in the complication of a boy Cady likes, who happens to be Regina’s ex, and you can already see things are going to go deliciously badly.
Screenwriter Tina Fey (who wrote the 2004 Mean Girls too) peppers the film with smart references to the original for fans, and keeps the core story fun while adding in modern updates around the songs that work well to show each character’s motivations and desires.
Speaking of the songs, one of the best things about this version of Mean Girls are the musical parts, including the opening “A Cautionary Tale” that sets the scene and Janis’s storming “I’d Rather Be Me.”
Even better, however, are the songs sung by Renée Rapp (especially “Someone Gets Hurt” and “World Burn”) and the singer/actress (who also appeared in the Broadway musical) is the shining star of a fun movie that is jam-packed with talent (as well as Rice, Cravalho and Spivey, Jon Hamm and Busy Philipps pop up, Fey reprises her role as Ms Norbury and there’s a lovely cameo from another original Mean Girl).
Is Mean Girls (2024) suitable for kids? Here are our parents’ notes...
This is a 12A certificate movie and is aimed at teens, not younger viewers.
There are sex and drug references, references to bullying, etc.
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