What is Mean Girls, Lolita Despite Me, a rereading of the cult teen movie from 2004? (critical)

This adaptation of the musical, itself inspired by the original film, keeps a large part of its promises, although it struggles to keep up with the frenetic rhythm of its beginning.

In 2004, Rachel Mc Adams and Lindsay Lohan wore their buns based on cult replicas which allowed the Lolita in spite of myself by Mark Waters, written by Tina Fey, to achieve this status. And so the phenomenon returns 20 years later to our big screens. But not through the prism of a banal and classic remake. Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr. indeed offer a rereading, bringing to the screen the musical comedy written by Tina Fey based on the script of her film. Tina Fey who reprises her role as Madame Norbury but was not present in Lolita in spite of myself 2spin-off, passed through the DTV box in 2011. Are you following?

Aficionados of Lolita in spite of me, themin any case will not be lost. Mean girls, Lolita in spite of myself uses the codes exactly. We follow Cady (Angourie Rice) who, back from Africa, is about to start “normal” schooling in an American high school, within which the two co-directors will take contagious pleasure in resurrecting the stupidity of the Plastics. And this by setting the starting tone, this famous mix of parody and self-deprecation which constitutes the DNA of this universe. Obviously a little lost, Cady is immediately approached by Damian and Janis (the weirdos from high school), who will help the teenager join the formidable Plastics gang. And at the head of the clan, we find the one who reigns at the top of the high school food chain: Regina George (played by Reneé Rapp) who sweeps away Rachel McAdams’ version in 2004. A real key to the success of the first film, the character has nothing to do with the Lolita who foments her innocence. Here’s the badass version. Dressed in a black perfecto, the leader of the Plastics appears in a feminist renaissance which recalls the new rise of Sandy at the end of Grease. The Regina George 2024 is neither Nabokov’s innocent Lolita nor Kubrick’s manipulative Lolita but a lioness who roars to the rhythm of her desires, rolling machines in the high school corridors.

Beyond Regina’s metamorphosis, the Lolita in spite of myself 2024 boasts specifications in line with its times, notably taking on LGBTQIA+ causes head-on through the character of Janis, considerably highlighted compared to the first part: a high school student emancipates herself and embraces her homosexuality in an anarchist attitude , invoked by her middle finger held high which she addresses to everyone. And if Mean girls- Lolita in spite of myself fails to maintain the hectic rhythm of its beginning, it remains a pleasant update of the phenomenon Lolita in spite of myself…which makes you want to watch the 2004 film again.

By Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr.. With Angourie Rice, Reneé Rapp, Tina Fey… Duration: 1h45. Released January 10, 2024