Directors – Samantha Jayne, Arturo Perez Jr. – 2024 – US – Cert. 12a – 112m
**
A reimagining as a musical of the eponymous, 2004 US High School movie in which the new girl finds herself up against a girl clique – out in UK cinemas on Friday, Wednesday, January 17th
Raised and homeschooled on the open plains of Kenya, 16-year-old Cady Heron (Angourie Rice) is in for a shock when her mum suddenly decides the family is moving back to the US. The shock comes specifically in terms of High School, which she swiftly discovers to be a hostile world of exclusive cliques.
Two outsiders Janis (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian (Jaquel Spivey) take it upon themselves to explain who’s who and against their advice, she falls in with the Plastics: Regina George (Reneé Rapp), Gretchen (Bebe Wood), and Karen (Avantika), a group of three rich, bitchy and style-obsessed girls who regard themselves as superior to everyone else.
Cady swiftly puts a foot wrong by falling head over heels for Regina’s boyfriend Aaron Samuels (Christopher Briney), and the narrative swiftly develops into a conflict between her and the other three Plastics, particularly Regina. It’s a musical, too: cue song and dance numbers.
Talented former Saturday Night Live comedienne Tina Fey had quite a bit to do with this – she wrote and starred in not only the original Mean Girls (Mark Waters, 2004), but also reworked the property as a Broadway musical which ran from 2018 and which, in turn, spawned this current reimagination, updating the story to include such staples of contemporary teenage life as smartphones and TikTok. She was also one of the producers on this new version.
The shooting style is an issue, to say the least. This is a movie made by people who’ve not only grown up with mobile phones, but also recorded a great deal of events in their own lives up close with their devices. They bring a whole different aesthetic to moving picture composition – the camera constantly feels too close, in too tight on the action, making the proceedings near impossible to watch.
This was screened to press at the IMAX screen at London’s Cineworld Leicester Square and I secured a good seat in the centre towards the back, so the film was viewed under optimal viewing conditions. I can’t think of another film which has provoked this exact reaction.
The property’s previous incarnations have a huge cult following, and the (largely young and predominantly female) audience at the preview screening seemed to have a good time. However, in terms of film going, I struggle to recall a movie to which I personally have connected less: I really couldn’t get on with this at all.
Mean Girls is out in cinemas in the UK on Wednesday, January 17th.
Trailer: