Had High Hopes I enjoyed the aesthetic of the movie and the teen vibe was on point, however, the plot of the story is really quite annoying and even upsetting as it goes on.
Lana's character goes from scared wall flower to rancid witch to... everyone's friend? Except that last part happens in one episode, and only in the last quarter. She did so many incredibly insufferable things to everyone around her, but the part where she's supposed to become likable again is incredibly rushed and there's no satisfaction or real closure. A majority of the show is her turning into a really awful friend and person and then the last episode pretty much wants us to forget all that, or to at least be all 'poor her'. If this was made in the days of TV and weekly episodes, it might have felt better, but on Netflix where they know people will binge... it was just not a good ending, or the ending was good, but the character 'development' was super pushed onto the audience instead of allowing us to get to like the main character again by showing us she deserved it.
As a person, there are so many things she did that I would have never been able to forgive, but somehow her best friend does (I guess?). There were a lot of points where I had to turn the show off and take a break, either from second hand embarrassment for how ridiculously shallow and callous she was being or from very real anger at how she treated everyone around her.
The acting was good, the outfits were AMAZING, but the storyline could have used an episode or 2 more. Or even less mega witch time and more 'I'm learning from my mistakes and making amends' would have brought this up to a 9 or 10. I'm not even sure about my 8 star rating, it may end up being a 7 after I finish this review.
Watch it for the aesthetic and actors, not for whatever the development was supposed to be teaching us (it's ok to be super horrible to everyone who likes or loves you as long as you give a 5 minute speech at prom). I mean, Mean Girls killed this concept, Boo, B!tch dropped it on the floor halfway through. Disappointed, for sure.