I like to think I tread the line between movie buff and movie snob quite well. I watch a lot of classic movies and try to tap into each corner of cinema history, but one of my favourite movies of all time is Jennifer's Body. I love my trash. If you put Bella Thorne in a movie, I will watch it. I simply have no control over that fact. I might not like it, but that will not stop me. When I saw Not Okay trending on Letterboxd, I was expecting to hunker down in the filth and wolf down more trash like the little movie goblin I am. What I saw instead was perhaps the most misadvertised movie all year.
This wasn't even a snap judgement I made from the poster. This is a direct-to-Disney+ (direct-to-Hulu in the US) teen movie, starring Zoey Deutch playing an influencer, and directed by Quinn Shephard (who herself is best known to me from her role in a Bella Thorne movie), so I think it's reasonable for me to expect something like Crush, another direct-to-Disney+ teen movie that premiered earlier this year. But rather than teen drama, cute romances, and a trashy but comforting plot, I got a jet black satirical comedy about the Paris terror attacks.
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Mild spoilers follow for Not Okay
Deutch's character Danni is an influencer without influence as the movie opens. She wants to be Insta-famous instantly, but she's floundering. She works for Depravity, a Buzzfeed-esque site, but her attempts to write for the site have failed. Her most recent attempt was an essay on the FOMO she feels at not knowing anybody who died in 9/11, meaning she struggles to care about a tragedy she herself has no personal connection to. When she manages to get a quick one on one with Dylan
Platform
UPS
Landmark
shooting
Bella Thorne
Zoey Deutch
Quinn Shephard