The new “Mean Girls” movie, starring Reneé Rapp as Regina George, Angourie Rice as Cady Heron and Christopher Briney as Aaron Samuels, became available on various streaming platforms just 45 days after it hit theaters, so there’s no better time to check out this updated classic on the cheap.
The new version merges the original film with elements from the Broadway production, including musical numbers, and sprinkles in a healthy dose of pop culture. Despite these changes, the remake stays true to the basic plot of teenager Cady Heron who, after moving from Kenya to America, gets her first taste of a public-school experience. Through a series of events, she ends up trying to fit in, which works in her favor, until it backfires.
“What I think is so special about Cady’s story is that it’s so relatable,” said Rice in an interview with “Digital Spy,” the British-based entertainment website. “I think we all feel this insecurity when entering a new space, we all want to fit in, we all want the ‘cool’ people to like us.”
The remake does tweak some storylines from the 2004 film to make them more appropriate for today’s audiences. For example, instead of Janis only being rumored to be a lesbian, this time around, the producers chose to make her character a lesbian, so Janis’ core traits could stay true to her.
“I enjoyed the movie; I’ve always enjoyed ‘Mean Girls’,” freshman Ruhi Shah said. “However, some of the tracks were different, and I wish they’d kept some jokes in. All in all, it was a great take on the classic movie mixed with the musical.”
Interestingly, Reneé Rapp also played Regina George on Broadway when she was 19. “I think that when I first did it in New York, I remember being in rehearsals, and the notes I got in rehearsals at the time were conducive to stage,” she told “Digital Spy,” in terms of making her character “bigger” and “bubblier.”
However, Rapp was able to dial back this theatricality for the film, which she said enabled her to play the version of Regina she’d originally intended to play when she first landed the role on Broadway.
It’s worth noting that Lindsay Lohan, who played Cady Heron in the 2004 film, has a small cameo in the remake. With this, the 2024 movie meaningfully connects the iconic original to the new musical adaptation, while simultaneously updating the plot to make it more relatable to today’s teens.
Thankfully, the movie’s core message remains the same: be yourself or risk winding up with the wrong group of friends.
