New student Cady Heron is welcomed into the top of the social food chain by the elite group of popular girls called ‘The Plastics,’ ruled by the conniving queen bee Regina George and her minions Gretchen and Karen. However, when Cady makes the major misstep of falling for Regina’s ex-boyfriend Aaron Samuels, she finds herself prey in Regina’s crosshairs. As Cady sets to take down the group’s apex predator with the help of her outcast friends Janis and Damian, she must learn how to stay true to herself while navigating the most cutthroat jungle of all: high school.
Ratings
Curator score: 0.9/10
IMDb: 5.5/10
Letterboxd: 2.48/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 5.9/10
Director
Arturo Perez Jr., Samantha Jayne
Production
Little Stranger, Broadway Video, Paramount Pictures
Cast
Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Auliʻi Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Avantika, Bebe Wood, Christopher Briney, Jenna Fischer, Busy Philipps, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows, Lindsay Lohan, Jon Hamm, Ashley Park, Connor Ratliff, Mahi Alam, John El-Jor, Brian Altemus, Megan Thee Stallion, Ben Wang
Where to watch
Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy, fast-moving update of Mean Girls that has some sharp performances and a few genuinely funny musical-comedy moments, but it softens the original’s bite and often feels over-sanitized. It works best as a breezy teen ensemble movie rather than a replacement for the 2004 film.
Best for
fans of teen ensemble comedies
viewers who like musical adaptations
audiences looking for light, colorful high-school satire
Reneé Rapp fans
people who enjoy polished studio comedy with pop energy
Skip if
you want the original film’s sharper edge
you dislike musicals or pop-forward staging
you prefer meaner, more acerbic satire
you’re looking for a fully fresh reinvention rather than a remake
Overview
This Mean Girls is polished, energetic, and clearly designed to be easy to watch. The cast has real charisma, and the movie finds a few winning comic beats in its musical numbers and social-media-era updates. It’s breezy enough to keep moving, and there are moments where the new performances feel like they’re having a genuinely good time inside the machine.
Worth noting
But the film also feels cautious in a way that blunts the whole point of Mean Girls. The original thrived on sharpness, embarrassment, and the pleasure of lines that actually stung; this version often sands those edges down. The result is a movie that’s pleasant and occasionally fun, but rarely as cutting as it wants to be.
Bottom line
If you come in expecting a faithful, high-gloss teen comedy with songs, it can work. If you want the nastier, smarter social satire that made the earlier film endure, this one is more of a companion piece than a successor.
Top Letterboxd reviews
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– do you know what they would call me if i was a boy?
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i carly theme song (edith piaf’s version)
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STOP USING TIKTOK IN MOVIES STOP USING TIKTOK IN MOVIES STOP USING TIKTOK IN MOVIES STOP USING TIKTOK IN MOVIES STOP USING TIKTOK IN MOVIES