Not Okay, 2022.
Written and Directed by Quinn Shepard.
Starring Zoey Deutch, Dylan O’Brien, Mia Isaac, Nadia Alexander, Tia Dionne Hodge, Negin Farsad, Embeth Davidtz, Karan Soni, Sarah Yarkin, Brennan Brown, Kirk White, Dash Perry, and Quinn Shephard.
SYNOPSIS:
An ambitious young woman (Zoey Deutch) finds followers and fame when she poses as the survivor of a deadly attack, but she soon learns that online notoriety comes with a terrible price.
Not Okay begins with a trigger warning, a cross between a sincere warning sign for the film’s serious subject matter and satire. That also succinctly sums up the tone of Quinn Shephard’s sophomore feature (her directorial debut, Blame, is an underseen gem that puts a twist on The Crucible, involving a high school senior getting into an inappropriate affair with one of her teachers), a tour through the lows of humanity and how social media can potentially enable the worst in all of us, but more intriguingly how plummeting to the rock-bottom depths to depravity can also wake someone up to what an awful human being they are, somehow pushing them on a path of becoming a better person even if they will never actually find redemption (some people don’t deserve it, anyway).
While outlining that Not Okay deals with traumatic experiences, the title card also proudly shows that the narrative contains an unlikable female protagonist. When you have Zoey Deutsch as the one portraying that loose cannon, it is nearly impossible to go wrong (she has played similarly unstable and chaotic characters in Buffaloed and Flower, with all three of these movies ranking among her most nuanced performances).
She plays Danni Sanders, an aspiring journalist primarily assigned to photo editing since she’s not the best writer around. Danni is also lonely, deeply unpopular, and ignored by her bad-boy crush (Dylan O’Brien is unrecognizable, covered in tattoos and playing a slimy dirtbag). Granted, some of this feels unlikely given the beauty of Zoey Deutch. Still, it’s also something you forgive and overlook since she is such a robust and whirlwind presence here that rises to the purpose and poignancy of every character beat.
When co-worker Harper (Nadia Alexander, who has previously worked with Quinn Shephard) tells Danni that she has been selected for an out-of-country writers retreat, it naturally bums her out and fuels a bit more jealousy. Later that night and while completely stoned, Danni’s adorable guinea pig (with a Harry Potter-themed name) starts stomping around the laptop keyboard, inadvertently giving her the horrible idea to call out of work and fake being at a writer’s retreat in Paris via freaking pictures through photo editing. Of course, this also proves to be an easy way to garner social media attention, something that Quinn Shephard handles right here (most directors depict going viral in contrived and phony ways, meaning it’s a relief everything here feels organic, mainly since much of the plot hinges on it).
But if you think that’s why Not Okay is undoubtedly to be divisive and likely offensive to some to the point they turn the movie off, let’s say that the script has surprises in store. Namely, a terrorist bombing attack (the enemy is unnamed, which is the right call here) occurs five minutes after Danni uploads one of her doctored pictures at a famous Paris landmark. This skyrockets the amount of attention she receives, this time of the sympathetic variety, and Danni doesn’t even blink before deciding to roll with it like a sociopath.
Suddenly, Danni’s personal life also changes, receiving the work assignments she wants, her LGBTQ coworkers inviting her to queer bowling night, and her crush Colin taking an interest. There is no disputing that Danni is morally repulsive, but Quinn Shephard boldly balances this by illustrating how fake some of that sympathy can feel. In the case of Colin, he is a twisted creep that gets off preying on vulnerable and traumatized women, which comes across as hauntingly accurate regardless of how much one hates Danni. Some of these supporting characters might be played for laughs a bit too much (even the dimwitted Colin) and a bit too clueless regarding Danni’s lies, but it does work in service of the narrative.
During this rise in Internet and real-life popularity, Danni also starts visiting group therapy classes so she could more believably impersonate a traumatized individual with activist posts for even more attention. This is where she meets spoken word poet activist Rowan (Mia Isaac, having a real breakout moment as she is tremendous here and in the emotionally riveting father-daughter road trip bonding tale Don’t Make Me Go streaming on Amazon Prime), a 17-year-old teenager protesting gun laws on behalf of a school shooting that took the life of her sister. As Danni continuously speaks to Rowan, her moral conscience reawakens (or perhaps awakens for the first time) as they develop a brilliantly written kinship and startling juxtapositions in their activism (including a beautiful scene utilizing Avril Lavigne’s ‘Complicated’).
Obviously, everything is going to explode in Danni’s face, but the greatest trick Quinn Shepard has up her sleeve is not shying away from the evilness that comes in response to being exposed. It’s also done without, even for a second, entertaining the idea of a redemption arc. Not Okay does boast a horrible person for a protagonist, but Quinn Shepard smartly avoids black-and-white storytelling, dabbling in several moral grays leading to much more thoughtful insight.
The fact that there are moments where one can still empathize with Danni here (the unsettling ways been trying to take advantage of a traumatized woman sexually is upsetting no matter who the protagonist is) and be fully immersed into her doomed genuine friendship with Rowan are a testament to this razor-sharp script that pulls off one hell of a balancing act between tastelessness and intelligent provocation. Not Okay is hilarious, morally horrifying, and poignantly compelling all at once.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
