There’s a content advisory at the start of “Not Okay,” a slightly amusing satire of influencer culture and, as articulated by its young lead character, the desire “to be discovered so badly that it doesn’t matter how”: “This film includes flashing lights, themes of injury and an unlikable female lead character.” And all that holds true. But the unlikability of Zoey Deutch’s Danni Sanders– a shallow, hopeful New York author who gets a comeuppance after pretending to have seen and endured a terrorist battle in Paris simply to gather social networks “likes”– is not so extreme regarding need the (most likely tongue-in-cheek) warning. Yes, Danni is a massive jerk, but Deutch (“The Clothing”) allows us to envision what might have driven her character to such an extreme. (She’s 27 and essentially unnoticeable at the publication she works for, called, properly enough, Wickedness). Trivializing the real trauma suffered by the members of a support system Danni joins– consisting of Mia Isaac’s Rowan, a high-schooler who lost her sibling to a school shooting– makes Danni an unlikable person, to be sure. But she’s still less bothersome than, state, her colleague Colin (a deliciously vapid and shallow Dylan O’Brien, with a bleach-blond buzz cut). The film, which is organized into chapters, ends with one entitled, “I don’t get a redemption arc.” It’s a disclaimer that I must say put a smile on my face. R. Available on Hulu. Includes strong language throughout, substance abuse and some sexuality. 102 minutes.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/movies/2022/07/28/july-29-new-streaming-movie-roundup/