Danni Sanders is Not Okay

I fully admit the way I feel about social media, influencers, etc I did not expect much from Not Okay. I certainly didn’t expect it to have some depth and real emotional heft. Of the 3 recent releases I’ve watched streaming (this one, Persuasion and The Gray Man) Not Okay definitely is the best of the bunch.

In more ways than one cause what she does is definitely not okay. If you haven’t seen the film trailer Danni is lonely, lost and suffering from depression. So she fakes going to Paris for a writer’s retreat. And then she fakes being a survivor of a terrorist attack in Paris because it gets her famous.

And Danni desperately wants that fame.

Along the way she becomes actual friends with Rowan, a school shooting survivor whose trying to enact real change from the horrors she witnessed.

Rowan is actually the heart of this movie and props to Mia Isaac who pulls it off beautifully. While we’re being horrified and amazed by what Danni’s capable of in a bad way I legit teared up at Rowan’s first speech.

Did we Really Need that Trigger Warning?

I was a little put off by the trigger warning. Not the part about flashing lights or scenes of trauma but that it added “unlikeable female protagonist.”

Really?

Do we need a trigger warning for unlikeable characters at this point? Female or not? They didn’t stick one on The Gray Man like by the way “guys you might really love in other things playing total assholes.”

Maybe it was tongue in check but they lumped it in with the legit trigger warnings so I can’t help feel like they meant it. Which honestly I respect trigger warnings but if we are getting to the point where we need them for unlikable characters well some people need to just stop watching television.

I can’t imagine that on like House of the Dragon coming up… Like hey you guys liked Matt Smith as Doctor Who? Well get ready to be seriously put off. I mean watch a preview people!

Zoey Deutch Though

Props to Zoey Deutch and the writing though because while she does suck there are still parts to this character that are really relatable. Even if it’s just the depression and loneliness. You could feel the sincerity to her friendship with Rowan even as she was taking advantage of her.

Danni is another one of those characters who you probably know in real life. Maybe not someone who would ever do what she does but someone with the qualities that get her to that point.

The Arc

I don’t want to get into spoilers but I will say I think the movie is really well written. Obviously if you read everything else I wrote 🙂 And the end is perfect for both of the main characters. It really couldn’t have gone any other way.

Recommend: Yes.

Not Okay is currently streaming on Hulu.