RELEASED MEAN GIRLS

(UK 12/ROI 12, 112 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment, available now on digital platforms, available from April 29 on DVD/Blu-ray, Musical/ Comedy/Romance) Starring: Angourie Rice, Renee Rapp; Auli’i Cravalho, Jaquel Spivey, Bebe Wood, Avantika, Jenna Fischer.

High school outcasts Janis Sarkisian (Auli’i Cravalho) and Damian Hubbard (Jaquel Spivey) narrate the cautionary tale of 15-year-old Cady Heron (Angourie Rice), who moves back to America from Kenya with her mother (Jenna Fischer).

Janis encourages Cady to infiltrate the ranks of The Plastics ruled by the formidable Regina George (Renee Rapp), who is fully aware of the grip she exerts over classmates (“This whole school humps my leg like a chihuahua”).

Cady spends time with Regina and chumettes Gretchen (Bebe Wood) and Karen (Avantika), but The Plastics’ pretty poison gradually corrupts the new girl.

When The Plastics’ rumour-filled Burn Book enters circulation, Cady confronts the consequences of her actions.

Mean Girls is an exuberant adaptation of the award-winning 2018 stage musical, which moves with the times from the 2004 film to fixate on the pivotal role played by social media in teenage lives.

Tina Fey returns as screenwriter and sensibly cuts and pastes some of the most quotable lines from the corridors and classrooms of North Shore High School.

Rapp reprises Regina from Broadway and is a supernova of seduction, while Cravalho and Spivey devour their scenes with belting voices and sass, repeatedly overpowering Rice.

The inconsistent direction of wifehusband team Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr is a stumbling block to making fetch happen on the big screen.

They energise some musical numbers and suck the oxygen out of others, drawing attention away from the characters with the camera’s movement.