Not Okay
An ambitious young woman, desperate for followers and fame, fakes a trip to Paris to up her social media presence. When a terrifying incident takes place in the real world and becomes part of her imaginary trip, her white lie becomes a moral quandary that offers her all the attention she’s wanted.
- Released:
- Runtime: 120 minutes
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Stars: Zoey Deutch, Dylan O'Brien, Mia Isaac, Tia Dionne Hodge, Negin Farsad, Nadia Alexander, Embeth Davidtz, Karan Soni, Sarah Yarkin, Gwyneth Anne Trumbore, Peter Patrikios, Steven Bono Jr., Blaise Corrigan, Simone Vysnovsky, Logan Crawford, Judy Zheng, Dash Perry, Julissa Piatt, Kapil Bawa, Quinn Shephard, Reece Feldman, Shawn Chatfield, Rocco Botte, Brennan Brown, Caroline Calloway
- Director: Quinn Shephard
Comments
- tom-ptasinski - 19 February 2024
Well intentioned but doesn't say anything we don't know
The social media world, influencers, and cancel culture are ripe for commentary and satire. We're all waiting for a film to say something exacting and insightful about them all.
Alas Not Okay is not the one.
It skims the surface of too many ideas to settle anywhere interesting. The cast does a fine job and there are inspired moments in the craft and cinematography but where it all falls apart is the script. Trapped in dated pop culture references and two dimensional characters with a paint by numbers plot, the narrative takes all the safe roads beginning to end and the result is, unlike its lead character, trying very hard not to offend except when it comes to the young privileged straight white girl at the center of the action who deserves everything that's coming to her from the beginning.
It is with Danni (Zoey Deutch) that many of the problems lie. A caricature of a person who is perfectly designed for the story to happen to her. There is nothing very human or rough around the edges with her, she is clueless when she needs to be, clever when she needs to be, and heartfelt when the story requires. As a result it's hard to care what happens to her in the story since we know it's supposed to because that's how she's designed to be. Any tension that could come from us caring about her outcome is eliminated from frame one. She was setup to fail and the movie wants us to revel in it as a profound statement, forgiveness and compassion have no place when we're in pain.
I agree with all the messages of the film but the movie preaches to my choir so nothing compels me to watch on. I get no satisfaction from being told things I already deeply believe.
Shooting and writing movies are hard so I'll refrain from remaking the film in my image, an exercise of pointless ego too common in our era.
The movie starts to get interesting when the inevitable happens to Danni but at that point all it can offer is a tidy ending it wants to feel profound but feels more performative.
My one wish is the film wholly focused on one of the many aspects it tries to explore and mock. Taking a concept so deep until it hits something painful and revelatory about ourselves. Something we might not want to hear but we know it is true. - elisabethpmcclellan - 9 January 2023
Dare u to keep watching
Tbh, I started watching the movie just because Dylan O'Brien was in it. As soon as I started it though I was already regretting it. I said, "I'll give it a shot and keep watching because why not". It was cringe since it began and a constant wanting it to stop. Who creates a lie like this? I knew it was bound to have a nasty ending and I'm a forever hopeful kind of person who likes a nice American movie ending, who am kidding. Again, it was "ugh" the whole time but I was already 45 min in so "might as well finish it", I thought. That's the kind of movie this was. I appreciated the story behind it, but it could've been written and produced so much better. This kind of story could've had a much better impact on the world if it had been told a different way.
To sum it up, if u want to see how messed up young people really are rn then watch it, but don't hope for the best. The movie just left me just more worried about our society and our future. The reason I can barely watch the news anymore... So was it good for me? Were the 1:43 min upbuilding in any way? Not really. Save yourself the cringey time and just watch clips of it if u really have a crush on blonde haired Dylan as much as I do...
