The Plastics are back! 20 years later, Mean Girls has been revived with some modern, and musical, twists. 

Written and produced by Tina Fey, this highly-anticipated remake follows the same beloved characters from the 2004 film. Expect to see both familiar and fresh faces on screen, including Reneé Rapp, Angourie Rice, Bebe Wood, Avantika and Auli’i Cravalho.

With this new version of the classic high school flick in theatres now, we wanted to share a few things we loved about the 2024 edition of Mean Girls.

This post contains spoilers for the movie.

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A New Cast that Understood the Assignment

The new Mean Girls cast had huge, bright pink shoes to fill, but for the most part, they nailed the tricky balance of replicating the charm of the original characters while bringing their own twists. Some standouts for us were Auli’i Cravalho as Janis, Jaquel Spivey’s sassy chime-ins as Damian, and Reneé Rapp’s stunning close-ups as the one and only Regina George.

Perhaps the most wholesome outcome of the Mean Girls premiere was seeing the original cast members bonding with the new actors—we love this snap of the two Karens.

The Cameos and Comebacks

In addition to a fresh cast, there are plenty of familiar faces and surprise appearances viewers will appreciate. Lindsay Lohan returns as the moderator of Cady’s Mathletes competition, and Megan Thee Stallion, who collaborated with Reneé Rapp on the incredibly catchy promo song Not My Fault, can also be spotted in a couple of the film’s TikTok montages.

You’ll also see Ashley Park, who played Gretchen Weiners in the Mean Girls Broadway musical, come back as a strict French teacher. Also reprising their Mean Girls roles are Tina Fey and Tim Meadows as Ms. Norbury and Mr. Duvall, a clandestine couple trying to keep the peace as feuds between the cliques at school escalate. 

The Soundtrack and Musical Numbers

You might not have known from the first few trailers, but this version of Mean Girls is indeed a musical! The film recreates some of the biggest hits from the Broadway adaptation of Mean Girls, and while some songs stick the landing better than others, look forward to standout solo numbers from Reneé Rapp, Avantika and Angourie Rice.

Auli’i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey also shine as a dynamic duo, effortlessly leading vibrant numbers like the wildlife-inspired Apex Predator and the wildly catchy Revenge Party. 

From Fetch to Glen Coco: All The Iconic Moments from the Original 

Diehard fans of the original movie won’t be disappointed—all of the quotable moments, meme-able lines, and unforgettable scenes are present and accounted for in the musical remake. You’ll be able to relive the winter talent show dance (with updated choreography inspired by BLACKPINK), the Burn Book insults and so many other quintessential Mean Girls moments—with some slightly modern twists.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Auli’i Cravalho sums it up perfectly: “It’s still your mom’s Mean Girls. We still have fetch, we still have ‘you go Glen Coco’, but in a completely different way. So if you can imagine the ‘04 classic as well as this music from the incredible Broadway show put together, with more sparkle, more gay…that’s what this is.”

The Queer Representation

Speaking of more gay, it was refreshing to see the queer characters of Mean Girls shine in this version of the film. “In film and television, queerness always has a certain look and it was nice to also show that there are plus-size queer people who are fun and joyful and jolly and they’re not getting slammed into lockers. There are fun times for us too,” Jaquel Spivey told Etalk. “But it’s also not just about that. They’re not queer kids, they’re kids who happen to be queer.” (And if you ask Reneé Rapp, Regina is also queer).

Mean Girls is in theatres now.