Not Okay

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Not Okay follows Danni Sanders, a lonely photo editor for a high profile magazine, who finds herself caught in an intricate lie when she fakes a trip to Paris the same time the city is struck by a terrorist attack. This concept alone is quite a clever and unique way of throwing up a mirror to society as it is now. There have been a lot of films that try to capture modern social media and influencer culture and this has to be one of my favourites so far. Watching Danni really flounder in mediocrity while hounding after even a glimmer of the spotlight makes you feel sad for this protagonist; yet she also talks in a way that shows she is deeply flawed. She doesn't listen at work, is openly rude to others, seeks validation selfishly and is mildly rude to minorities. Danni is unremarkable and constantly shows qualities of a young woman who needs to grow. But then she stumbles into Instagram/internet stardom and we really see her strength of character tested. She feeds into this sense that she's a victim to increase her stardom, going so far as to commit to a support group and trick a young activist into helping her gain a wider audience. I like that Danni gets to see what a vapid world influencer culture is; wealth and image are really pushed and the figures within this sphere painted as being shallow and impotent. While the real connections Danni makes within the support group are genuine; these characters are people trying to heal and make change after surviving what they've experienced. Seeing the truth, watching Danni being forced to admit the truth and be exposed as a liar and losing access to both worlds is really powerful. There's a sort of harsh lesson around privilege that is captured well in the poem featured in the final scene: Danni is not a victim and she doesn't deserve sympathy. Danni is a young white woman who created a platform and tried to profit off others for fame, she profited off an event that hurt others and only came clean when she had no other choice. I loved the way Danni's character just crumples away under the strength of Rowan's, the contrast between this pair is right at the heart of what makes this film so brilliant.

 

The cinematography throughout is very dynamic, I love how the camera could kick into motion for effect while also capturing dialogue intensive scenes in a very understated way. The editing set such a consistent pace and tone, I also really enjoyed the self-aware title cards that really blocked out the narrative nicely. Pierre-Philippe Côté does the music for this and I enjoyed the light chorus work that really upped the feeling Danni was about to be swallowed whole by her own lies; furthermore the soundtrack was a treat and had a standout use of Avril Lavigne's 'Complicated'.

 

Zoey Deutch, who played Danni, is an absolutely phenomenal protagonist for this; Deutch manages to craft this exceptionally selfish and unlikeable role who on some level you could imagine quite easily stumbling upon on Instagram or Tiktok. Dylan O'Brien, who played Colin, really gets to stretch his legs with a more comedic performance here; having O'Brien strut around with this giant ego and little intellect on display is a hilarious if not eerily accurate portrayal of influencer culture. Tia Dionne Hodge, who played Linda, is a small role that is played brilliantly; watching Hodge calmly and lightly play the mother who supports Isaac's role is wonderfully done. Embeth Davidtz and Brennan Brown, who played Judith and Harold respectively, are really great as Deutch's emotionally strung out parents; Davidtz in particular does well with her over the top doting and then her deep shame directed at her on-screen daughter near the end of the film.

 

However, the best performance came from Mia Isaac, who played Rowan. This young actress really stuns in this film, just stealing the show the more and more we get to see of her character. When first we meet Rowan she's quite a guarded individual, steadily talking about trauma she has survived and being active in her support group. You get to see Isaac open as this caring figure and that leaves you with a great first impression as we move into seeing her as this activist for positive change. Throughout the film I was really taken with how sincerely Isaac played Rowan, she's such a genuine and compassionate individual who hasn't let her platform corrupt her in the way Deutch's Danni has. I found the way Isaac presented trauma to be deeply respectful, she made some very key choices with body language to portray triggers for her role that seemed well informed. I also thought the chemistry between Isaac and Deuth was something very special, this pair had a genuine friendship that made you really enjoy seeing them together. So the pain when their characters fell out with one another was all the more powerful for it. Honestly that final poem recited by Isaac is going to be one of the most moving performances I'll see this year, it packed a punch. Mia Isaac is just starting out, she keeps going like this and she'll be running it.

 

This film set itself a tough bar going out the gate; it wants to be a black comedy but the back half is certainly more of a dramatic cautionary tale. While both approaches here work, and often work well, there are moments where the way the story is being told doesn't feel balanced. This is especially prevalent in the second act of the film where the switch is most notably at work. The film struggles with treating Danni like a character, or like a symbol of influencer culture it wants to ridicule. I also think the comedy reached a few points where it pushed past the point of satire and got a bit obvious, which cheapened the role of a few side characters. 

Negin Farsad, who played Susan, never really feels like the head editor of a big trendy magazine; I think the big personality shift we see from Farsad's first scene to her later scenes comes off as a little much too. Nadia Alexander, who played Harper, just isn't utilised enough to be a good antagonist for this film; I really found Alexander's performance to be a bit too severe and serious for the nature of the film. Karan Soni, who played Kevin, just pops up in films that are vaguely comedic and tends to play the weakest part at this point; his role adds nothing and it feels like he was improving bad material a lot. Dash Perry, who played Larson, is another main member of the magazine cast who is given a little more focus than he needs, Perry is a source of comedy that seems to be there to put some levity around Alexander's performance. Kirk White, who played Charles, gives two performances in this and they're at real odds with one another; on one hand we get a very serious trauma survivor while on the other White gives quite an obvious pitch at the awkwardly placed comedic outsider which cheapens the former.

What starts out as a really biting and relevant black comedy pivots into a feature that really highlights current social media culture, activism and privilege. I would give Not Okay an 8.5/10.