The Big Picture

The Archies, a new Netflix adaptation of the beloved Archie Comics, successfully recontextualizes the characters in 1960s India, while remaining true to the spirit of the original comics. The film explores themes of friendship, romance, and coming of age, as the Riverdale gang navigates the challenges of adulthood and works together to save a beloved park from developers. While Archie’s constant indecisiveness between Betty and Veronica may be the film’s weakest aspect, the strong friendships and dynamic performances of the cast make The Archies worth watching for fans of the comics and Bollywood enthusiasts alike.

When you have a cast of characters that have been known and loved for over 80 years — the first Archie Comics issue was released in 1942 — and have never since been out of print or out of the public consciousness, the challenge in making a new adaptation is how to make it stick out. In Netflix’s The Archies, director Zoya Akhtar rises to the challenge in spectacular fashion, uprooting the gang from small-town USA and planting them in India in the 1960s for an upbeat Bollywood comedy that remains true to the spirit of the Archie Comics and breathes fresh life into the characters.

The Archies
Set in 1960s India, Archie and the gang navigate romance, friendship and the future of Riverdale as developers threaten to destroy a beloved park. Release Date December 7, 2023

What Is ‘The Archies’ About?

The Archies, as the title suggests, follows 17-year-old Archie Andrews (Agastya Nanda) and his friends Jughead (Mihir Ahuja), Betty (Khushi Kapoor), Veronica (Suhana Khan), Reggie (Vedang Raina), Ethel (Dot.), and Dilton (Yuvraj Menda) coming of age in their small town of Riverdale in northern India. The English-language town name, as well as the protagonists’ English names, are quickly explained off the top: Riverdale was founded by an Englishman and his Indian wife during British Occupation, and became a haven for other Anglo-Indian families, especially after independence.

With that out of the way, The Archies is then free to become the kind of coming-of-age teen film that is refreshing in how nostalgic it is. Absent are the high-concepts so many believe are necessary to keep an audience engaged in such a long-running property. Instead, what it boils down to is the Riverdale gang navigating friendship, romance, and heartbreak as adulthood rapidly approaches, while also rallying together to save Green Park, the historically significant park at the center of town, which is at risk of being turned into private property for a hotel.

With a soundtrack made up almost entirely of earworms — with music and lyrics by Ankur Tiwari, The Islanders, Aditi Saigal, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and Javed Akhtar — and a script by Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Ayesha Devtire Dhillon full of zippy one-liners and some truly moving moments, the young cast truly gets the chance to shine, be they newcomer or “nepo baby.”

Archie Still Can’t Choose Between Betty and Veronica
Image via Netflix

If the movie has one weakness, it’s with one of the oldest pillars of the Archie comics, namely Archie’s complete inability to decide between girl-next-door Betty and the glamorous Veronica. Granted, had this element not been present at all, it would have felt like something was missing. The issue is the love triangle starts early, and it goes on for most of the movie, entwining itself into the gang’s other interpersonal drama. For a film that breezes through its nearly 2.5-hour runtime, Archie’s constant insistence that he loves both and cannot possibly choose is the only part that drags. Fortunately, he’s the only one who seems to dwell on it, as even Betty and Veronica have better things to do half the time. On a final note on the subject, ladies, it’s been 81 years. Please move on, you both deserve better.

Of course, theirs is not the only relationship that forms the heart of the story. As in the comics, Ethel nurses an unrequited crush on Jughead, but unlike other adaptations, Jughead doesn’t seem all that interested in a relationship at all. A 2016 issue of Jughead revealed that the character is asexual, and while that is never explicitly stated in The Archies, that reading of the character is never refuted either. Dilton and Reggie are both given surprisingly thoughtful arcs while Moose (Rudra Mahuvarkar) and Midge (Santana Roach) only appear briefly. Theirs is such a sweet, supportive relationship that it makes Archie’s indecisiveness that much more frustrating in comparison. But at the heart of it all, it is the well-meaning friendship between the entire Riverdale gang that is the strongest part of the story. It feels dynamic like so many real friendships are. It’s not all or nothing, but evolves as the story progresses and as their lives begin to change and redefine.

‘The Archies’ Doesn’t Have Much in Common With ‘Riverdale’ — and That’s a Good Thing
Image via Netflix

The closest comparison for any Archie story, especially nowadays, will of course be Riverdale, the CW series that ended its seven-season run earlier this year. While both Riverdale and The Archies succeed in recontextualizing the comics everyone knows so well, it is to the benefit of both that they don’t have much in common, beyond the names of the characters. Some of that is owing to one being a TV series and the other being a movie. In a TV series, particularly one that starts out as a murder mystery, there is that expectation of heightening every season to keep people coming back. This is what pushed Riverdale from a show about teens in over their heads as one of their own is killed to one where no one bats an eye at 16-year-olds owning and operating speakeasies and boxing gyms before ending with superpowers and time travel.

The Archies forgoes all of that in favor of its much more grounded story, one where the historical setting isn’t to capture an iconic character aesthetic, but is instead infused with meaning. The film is set in 1964, and the teen characters are all 17. Born in 1947, the film makes specific mention of the fact that they were born in the year of independence, and unlike their parents, they fully grew up in a free India. The film doesn’t do much to reckon with the ugly centuries-long history of occupation — that’s a big ask for any movie, let alone a musical about teenagers trying to save a park. Instead, it chooses to celebrate Riverdale and the sense of “home” such as it is. It’s not perfect, but is worth sticking around and fighting for, rather than running off away from family and friends to seek some indeterminate “better life.”

‘The Archies’ Is Worth the Watch
Image via Netflix

I’ve often longed for an adaptation like this. Not of Archie comics necessarily, but one that takes familiar characters and drops them into a new time and place, retaining the core themes and concepts, but recontextualizing them to make them feel fresh. In that sense, The Archies excels in every way I could have asked for. The cast, with their comedic timing and dynamic performances, wholly capture the spirit of the comics so many of us grew up with, all set against the topical backdrop of young people coming of age in a world so wholly different from the one their parents grew up in, trying to define what this new world means for them. Don’t let the runtime deter you — though if you’re a Bollywood fan, this is nothing new — as The Archies is just the sort of fun, upbeat film to instill a little hope and joy and leave you dancing long after the credits roll.

Rating: 9/10

The Archies is now available to on Netflix in the U.S.

Watch on Netflix