LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE on Netflix is the adaption of Jessica Knoll’s best-selling novel. A mystery thriller starring Mila Kunis in the all-important title role, this is a very accomplished adaption. Read our full Luckiest Girl Alive movie review here!
LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE is a new Netflix thriller mystery. It’s based on the best-selling book by Jessica Knoll and has so many important messages. I expected to like this movie, but I must admit that I absolutely loved it.
Yes, it’s difficult to watch – extremely so, at times – but the overall message makes it worth it. Also, Mila Kunis delivers the performance of a lifetime. All while having amazing actors around her to also carry the weight of their characters. This is scary in ways you can’t imagine. To me, this is much scarier than any horror movie.
Continue reading our Luckiest Girl Alive movie review below. The movie premieres on Netflix on October 7, 2022.
Mila Kunis steals the show
With a cast as strong as the one in Luckiest Girl Alive, you need to really bring your A-game to shine. Well, Mila Kunis (Black Swan) certainly did that. And then some! Mila Kunis is fierce and credible and absolutely steals the show. From gulfing down pizza slices in seconds to doing the whole “grin and bear it”, she is perfect as Ani Fanelli.
As the young Ani – or Tifani – we see another perfectly cast actor. The young Chiara Aurelia who blew my mind in Cruel Summer. Actually, she was also in Mike Flanagan’s Gerald’s Game, so I keep hoping we’ll see her in one of his Netflix series sometimes soon.
In Luckiest Girl Alive, she has to do some very difficult scenes and I would not change a thing about her performance. Mark my words, we’ll be seeing a lot more of Chiara Aurelia in the future. This girl is on fire!
The many fascinating supporting characters are also played by amazing talent. From the American Horror Story alumni actors Finn Wittrock (as Ani’s fiancé) and Connie Britton (as Ani’s mom) to Justine Lupe (Mr. Mercedes), Scoot McNairy (True Detective), and the always amazing Jennifer Beals (The Book of Boba Fett).
It feels almost too real
The realism of the story told in Luckiest Girl Alive – from the school shooting to the sexual assault – makes it a very important movie. One that many will be able to relate to. Either from knowing similar trauma or the fear of experiencing the same thing.
Of course, this can make Luckiest Girl Alive feel almost too real (or familiar) to some viewers. If you can, watch it to get to the end, which does offer both hope and positivity. As well as a realistic stroke, of course.
A movie like this should be mandatory watching for people in general. For many reasons, but especially in terms of listening to and seeing young people. Only then can we help avoid these situations in the future.
And, for the love of everything you hold dear, could we please stop giving passes to rich white boys and men for their behavior? Often labeled “mistakes” despite covering everything from criminal offenses to just deviant and downright cruel behavior.
Watch Luckiest Girl Alive on Netflix now!
Mike Barker is the director of Luckiest Girl Alive and he has quite the resume from both film and television. In recent years, he’s worked mostly in TV, where he has directed on everything from The Handmaid’s Tale (12 episodes across three seasons), Broadchurch, and most recently the Netflix series The Sandman.
Jessica Knoll wrote the screenplay for Luckiest Girl Alive which is based on her own novel. In other words, much like Gillian Flynn did with Gone Girl. The two stories are very different but also have similarities in terms of following a person and having them narrate (and comment on) both present events and the past that shaped them.
To me, this movie works brilliantly due to the performance of Mila Kunis in the title role. She delivers an amazing portrayal of a woman falling apart but also trying to build herself into something stronger. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that all the supporting roles a perfectly cast as well.
I highly recommend watching this – just be ready for many realistic and uncomfortable (often relatable) moments.
Luckiest Girl Alive is out on Netflix from October 7, 2022.
Details
Director: Mike Barker
Writer: Jessica Knoll
Cast: Mila Kunis, Finn Wittrock, Chiara Aurelia, Scoot McNairy, Thomas Barbusca, Justine Lupe, Jennifer Beals, Connie Britton
Plot
Luckiest Girl Alive centers on Ani FaNelli, a sharp-tongued New Yorker who appears to have it all: a sought-after position at a glossy magazine, a killer wardrobe, and a dream Nantucket wedding on the horizon. But when the director of a crime documentary invites her to tell her side of the shocking incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Brentley School, Ani is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.
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