Mean Girls (2024) Parent Guide

Living in a tent on the grasslands of Kenya has not prepared Cady (Angourie Rice) for the ruthless ecosystem of an American high school. Her scientist mother ensured that she’s academically on target, but Cady is too naïve to decode the predatory hierarchy that dominates not only the school halls but also the world of social media.

Initially befriended by artsy outcasts Janis and Damian (Auli’I Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey), Cady soon falls into the orbit of “The Plastics”. The trio of girls is led by the hard-faced queen bee Regina (Reneé Rapp), who is slavishly followed by her acolytes, dim-witted Karen (Avantika) and insecure Gretchen (Bebe Wood). Intrigued by Cady but determined to keep her in her place, Regina befriends and then betrays her, leaving Cady angry enough to participate in a revenge plot masterminded by Janis and Damian.

It turns out that Cady has a talent for intrigue and it looks like the social tables are about to turn. But can Cady pretend to be a “plastic” without becoming “shiny, fake, and hard”?

This musical movie version of Mean Girls is an adaptation of the Broadway show, which was in turn inspired by the 2004 film of the same name. I will admit to not having seen any of the prior versions, which makes it easy to judge this production on its merits. And my verdict is – it’s not terrible. It’s not wonderful either, but it falls squarely in the middle of the world of teen cinema. The story is overlong and highly predictable, and there are too many musical numbers (although some of them are memorable), but the show manages to deliver solid messages about integrity, authenticity, loyalty, friendship, forgiveness, and honest self-assessment. The writers are gentle with the characters, and even those who make egregiously bad choices are given the chance to evaluate themselves, change their behavior, and improve.

Unsurprisingly, a movie that confronts the ugliness of high school popularity wars contains some negative content. There’s not much profanity, although one song features numerous sexual hand gestures. There are repeated scenes of underage drinking, and some farcical violence. The show also has plenty of sexual content, including visible cleavage, passionate kissing, and innuendo, but the biggest problem is the constant pressure, both external and internal, for girls to be “sexy”. Like screenwriter Tina Fey’s Moxie, this film unsparingly examines the painful challenges facing teenage girls, from sexualization and objectification to the real-life horrors perpetuated by the 24/7 gaze of social media. High school has always been tough, but the online world has made adolescence performative, and Cady learns that what the virtual world builds up, it can also destroy.

Mean Girls isn’t for everyone: it’s too predictable for most adults, unless they have fond memories of the original film. Frankly, going through high school was bad enough in real life; why would I want to relive the worst of it at an elevated level of cruelty and intensity? All the high energy singing and dancing isn’t enough to make this feel fun.