The 2024 musical film adaptation of Mean Girls has it rough. Gloss over the press rollout, and you’ll miss the musical note cutout in the middle of the A in MEAN. It’s meant to be a signal flare that people will SING about their FEELINGS in this one, but the intended effect fizzled on impact. Which is a real shame, because Mean Girls 2024 has the best ensemble cast yet. Marketing foibles intrude on an otherwise delightful reimagining of the 2004 teen classic.
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In Fair North Shore, Where We Set Our Scene
Proper expectation setting is…uh, paramount for a musical film, and they absolutely fumbled the bag with Mean Girls 2024. The impression from behind the scenes footage and interviews isn’t flattering either. Apocryphally, Paramount nixed a streaming-only release plan once some positive test audiences trickled in. Mean Girls 2024, as I’m referring to it for my own sanity, is the latest casualty in a rash of movie musicals strangely reluctant to tell audiences what they’re in for.
It’s a real ship of Theseus situation: the original film was adapted from nonfiction, then converted to Broadway, then retrofitted from Broadway to silver screen. I constantly have to provide more context when I recommend it. “Wait, there’s a remake of Mean Girls?” Yes, but… “You want me to watch Mean Girls, the Broadway show?” Not exactly. They could have just slapped a subtitle on this new one and saved us all the trouble. Mean Girls: A Musical? Mean Girls: The Musical? Is anyone at Paramount listening?
Casting A Wider Net
Mean Girls 2024’s marketing rollout was tired, but the reinvigorated film cast kept me wide awake. Each character feels more fully formed than the 2004 original, with character beats that add dimension (and a little plot contrivance) and keep identical plot beats from falling flat.
Avantika’s Karen and Bebe Wood’s Gretchen are delightful, adding a push-and-pull magnetism to the Plastics that feels almost tangible. Karen’s combo of wobbly physicality and a piercing thousand-yard-stare meshes perfectly with Gretchen’s nervy, almost entirely mental maelstrom.
New identities enter the cast in ways that go beyond mere lip service—Avantika’s Karen is prominently South Asian, Bebe Wood’s Gretchen namechecks her abuelita, and beef with Reneé Rapp’s Regina George stems from more than a barbed sapphic putdown.
Auli’i Cravalho’s portrayal of Janis Imi’ke feels less Daria-lite in the 2024 film, pivoting her to a talented, self-described art-freak. Jaquel Spivey’s Damian Hubbard counterbalances Janis’s acidity with impeccably timed, effortlessly funny one-liners—and a hinted romance of his own. And damn, do these kids have singing chops!
While the rest of the ensemble had less overt chances to shine, they still were able to hold their own when they did appear on screen. Christopher Briney is a perfectly nice, floppy-haired Aaron Samuels, with moments of pure dorkiness that made him much easier to like. Tina Fey’s Ms. Norbury gets more humanizing moments, including some cute bickering with the principal over who has to walk the dog that week. The only character that felt out of place was Busy Philipps’ as Mrs. George.
Angourie Rice’s Cady suffers the most from the accelerated runtime, along with Regina. The plot necessitates that they both have their guard up most of the film, trading teen comedy Kamehamehas at 50,000 feet while the cast looks on from below. Cady charms most in the moments that facade drops—making truly disastrous banter with her crush, effortlessly lapping a mathlete, waxing poetic about predator-prey relationships. And once Regina is in a neck brace and on weapons-grade painkillers, she loosens up a bit too.
Vacuum Packed
Halfway through the first act of Mean Girls 2024, I sensed an absence. In the 2004 film, Regina’s house was opulent but alive. Regina said hello to her younger sister while Kelis’ “Milkshake” blared from the TV. This time, the house is quieter and emptier. There’s no music, no visible clutter, only the sound of footsteps and an eventual confrontation with Regina’s mom.
I shrugged, thinking it might be a quirk of the musical, and tried to move on. But outside of school and parties, you’re confronted with these absences: silence where there was sound, emptiness where there was activity. I wasn’t able to shake off that vacant feeling, so I did more research. Numbers-wise, the Mean Girls 2024 budget was $36.2 million, while “Wonka” and “The Color Purple”—other movie musicals releasing in the same window—hovered near the $90-$125 million mark.
My husband consulted the inflation calculator: Mean Girls 2024, when adjusted, only had a little more breathing room than the original film’s 18 million—you know, before it became a long-running cultural sensation. It’s hard not to see these figures as a vote of no confidence. Despite the cast and crew’s best efforts, the lack of resources is noticeable. Nevertheless, Mean Girls 2024 is easily on track to recoup its meager budget, guaranteeing Paramount will learn nothing from this.
Facing the Music
Now for the elephant in the room: the songs are, well, fine. There are no out-and-out bangers like “Candy Store” from Heathers: the Musical, but there are a few toe-tappers on par with Shrek: The Musical’s “I Know It’s Today.”
The songs do their job of zipping from idea to idea, but there’s very little that sticks in the craw. “Sexy” and “Apex Predator” are highlights because they provide characters with interiority otherwise missing from the film. There’s no Girl World narration, but Janis and Damian tee things up in a metatextual way. It’s no substitute for really knowing what Cady’s thinking.
My other sticking point is more personal: I don’t like the super-polished, recording booth versions of musical numbers. The tonal whiplash is especially glaring after quip-heavy conversations. Reneé Rapp’s Regina fares the best, radiating charisma whether speaking or singing, but other numbers feel jarring. They’re mostly functional, shuttling us from Point A to Point B and only occasionally allowing pure fun.
Auli’i Cravalho’s defiant “I’d Rather Be Me” raises both middle fingers in the air as Janis sprints down the hallway, the camera struggling to keep up. Even during these careful numbers, that adrenaline spike of spontaneity peeks through, glimmers of “Grease Live!” almost crashing a golf cart in real time. Mean Girls 2024 knows the limits of this studio approach and plays with them, peppering wry diegetic moments and fourth wall breaks.
Sorry, Marketing Needs Fetch to Happen
Mean Girls’ astroturfed TikTok resurgence drove the 2024 film’s marketing and release strategy, and not for the better. Unfortunately, that shows through via conspicuous e.l.f. and Spotify placement plus a few well-done (but still glaring) Megan Thee Stallion cameos. Thanks to some preshow infotainment, I now know more about the joys of e.l.f’s affordable cosmetic line than I ever wanted to.
I consulted an expert: Lotus, fashionable former Fanbyte colleague and all-around great streamer, said via Discord message, “[e.l.f.] is arguably the most popular drugstore brand in the world…it would be weird for the Plastics to use a lot of [e.l.f.] since it’s known for being cheap.” This advertising jutsu didn’t exist back in 2004, and it certainly doesn’t feel at home in Mean Girls 2024. As the kids say, it’s giving–giving “buy all our playsets and toys” vibes.
All your favorite quotes from the original film are here too, landing like a dull thud against a gymnasium floor. Only one iconic line is spared total humiliation: the first instance of Gretchen using “fetch,” and a Karen assist on the last.
Fetch attempts to happen three separate times, “she doesn’t even go here” appears twice, but thankfully there are not four Glen Cocos. Just the one, with an added Damian-and-Janis-as-omniscient-narrator spin. Other poorly-aged quips are excised altogether, while heartfelt nods to the source material verge on being overwhelmed by “Hey! Remember this?”
The Verdict: A Kinder, Gentler Squad of Teen Girls?
Add up these sanded edges and axed budgets, and Mean Girls 2024 loses some bite. It could stand, ironically, to be meaner. Not that I’m the ultimate arbiter of teen culture, I’m just a 32-year-old gay man who was around when the ancient texts were written.
The sharpest jabs come from Tina Fey’s background details, not the teens themselves: the cafeteria serving vegan-friendly Confident Joannes (a.k.a. Sloppy Joes) for Women’s History Month, a teacher tentatively raising a hand while Ms. Norbury is full-tilt into her get-along speech, Janis looking happiest dancing on her own.
There are so many careful details: the social-media-whirlwind that serves as the Greek chorus, the way camera angles get uncomfortably close when characters are too in their own heads, how the color range contracts and pops with the mood. I could go on, but frankly I know an army of talented young fancam editors and video essayists will do a much better job. (Have fun, kids!)
Mean Girls 2024 entertainment industrial workers deserve the world, but it’s old-fashioned show business that gets in the way of an easy layup. Hollywood, why do you have to make things so complicated?
Paramount’s attempt to lure in general audiences confused people and sidelined the core market for Mean Girls 2024: theater kids and those that love them. So many other options don’t pull their punches. Not just old relics like Heathers or Jawbreaker, but also recent queer send-ups like Bottoms. What ultimately saves Mean Girls 2024 from disaster is the love the cast and crew have for it. Theater kids past and present, I think you’ll love it too.
Good
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| An immensely talented, reinvigorated cast. | A botched marketing rollout and meager budget. |
| A runtime under two hours, perfect for sleepy adults. | Trying a little too hard to make fetch happen. |
| On-point camera work and color grading. | Loses the bite of the original, in some ways not for the better. |
| Much-needed plot overhauls that make the characters more real. | Paramount will learn nothing from this. |
| Tina Fey can still write a damn good one-liner. | The musical numbers are merely fine. |
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