Netflix’s new 00s high school slasher film Time Cut has just outraged fans who grew up at this awkward time in teen history.
If you were in high school in the 00s, you will likely look back red-faced at the concealer lips, bodycon skirts, frosted hair tips, rat tails, heavy eyeliner, Dream Matte Mousse foundation – and the mother of them all: the inexplicable popularity of the bobby-pinned hair pouf.
It was a time not to be romanticised, but to be appreciated in hindsight with a hearty sympathetic chuckle, followed by: ‘What were we thinking?’
But now Generation Z have reimagined 00s culture into this fun boob-tubed, crop top era, where people wore low-rise combat pants and were so goddamn Brat.
We weren’t Brat: we were cake-faced, clumsy losers, who hadn’t yet discovered the joys of a YouTube make up tutorial, or been guided by curated Instagram aesthetics.
So those who remember strutting our stuff in 3/4 length leggings – no combat trousers in sight, fyi – took a bit of offence at Netflix’s new film Time Cut, which seems to have romanticised this particularly destitute cultural time.
Directed by Hannah Macpherson the new flick stars Madison Bailey, Antonia Gentry and Michael Shanks, and follows a teen who goes back in time, and decides to stop the serial killer who murdered her sister.
Netflix posted a tease clip of the film on X to buzz their followers up, and in the caption promised: ‘Spend a day in 2003!’
The trailer however begged to differ, as it followed the time-travelling teen through a corridor of very rose-tinted 00s school life.
Not one bad hairstyle – see: razor-straight bangs coupled unfortunately with wet-look curly hair, and the reign of the extreme side fringe – graced our screens. There is not one concealer lip in sight.
They got the Ugg boot and disc belt memo, but as viewers pointed out, this was not coupled with any true dedication to 00s makeup and hair.
In a viral post, one viewer @honeybunwife shared the trailer and wrote: ‘You can have the actors wear all the Uggs and tracksuits your heart desires, but putting zero effort into period accurate hair and makeup means it was all for nothing.’
They continued: ‘The problem with most period pieces set in the 90s and 00s is that they’re too afraid to make everyone a little ugly (by 2024 standards)
‘No show or movie will be (or needs to be) 100% accurate but imagine how much funnier the fish out of water time displacement comedy would be if the cast was dressed a tiny bit more exaggerated.’
@RissaRambles asked: ‘Where are the chunky tri-color highlights? Where are the halter tops? Culotte pants?! Jeans under dresses?!?’
‘It’s super lazy too. The internet existed then – we have plenty of images and footage from that era!’ added @fresafresca3000.
Many people agreed, with others holding up Mean Girls and Clueless as a good example of exaggerated 00s high school culture, with their varied cliques of emos, sporty kids, girl gangs, and so on.
‘The fact that there’s no diversity in the wardrobe is what bothers me like it never looked like a scene from clueless or mean girls everyone wore they own styles etc,’ commented @professor_peon.
‘This doesn’t feel 2003-ish to me, where the goth girls and emo boys at?’ added @iamnaaomixx, while @Schl0tterbeck said: ‘Righttttt where are the no eyebrows and the eyeliners and the straight hair and bangs huhhhhh.’
‘No frosted tips, no rattails….they’re even scared to style the boys,’ said@realonx1, while @hyunnie_hunny asked: ‘where did the blue eyeshadow go, along with the dream matte mousse and the curled hair with straight bangs?’
No fear, true 00s fashion will live on in our collective memories, albeit at the very, very back…
Time Cut is available to watch on Netflix now.