“Not Okay” a satirical black comedy which focuses on whiteness, notoriety and white guilt in pursuit of social media clout, falls short of hitting its mark.
The movie follows Danni Sanders (Zoey Deutch), an aimless aspiring writer with no friends, no romantic prospects and – worst of all – no followers, who fakes an Instagram-friendly trip to Paris in the hopes of boosting her social media clout.
When a terrifying incident strikes, Danni unwittingly falls into a lie bigger than she ever imagined, and then instead of owning up to her lie, she doubles down.
As an influencer and advocate, Danni finally has the life and audience she always wanted. But it’s only a matter of time before the façade cracks, and she learns the hard way that the internet loves a takedown.
“Not Okay” tries to have its cake and eat it too but struggles to find nuance.
The film is meant to be a satirical take on modern society’s obsession with social media clout and obsession for attention, and how race factors into that, but the film tries to play up sympathy for Danni, and that is where it struggles.
“Not Okay” tries to get you to feel sympathy for her behaviour, but to also criticise her and and not condone her behaviour.
The film tries to walk a fine line between showing Danni’s growth and holding her accountable but also understand her quest for forgiveness.
However, it is hard to feel all of this for a character like Danni, when in reality someone like her would only feel bad about being called out, and not because of the harm her actions cause.
The film also does a disservice to the story of Rowan (Mia Isaac), a school-shooting survivor dedicated to societal change, when Dannie strikes up an unlikely friendship.
Rowan’s story is meant to juxtapose that of Danni’s, but in making her story the secondary narrative and not the co-lead, it makes the film’s climax feel hollow.
The movie does feel like it drags in parts as well.
“Not Okay“ could have also lost 10 minutes of story, and that could have come from the story of Colin (Dylan O'Brien).
As talented as Dylan is, and he delivers a solid performance, his storyline could have easily been cut from the movie.
More attention should have gone into expanding Danni’s relationship with her mother, which is an apparent source of pain and frustration for the character.
Maybe flipping the perspective to Rowan, and explaining her thinking in even getting to know someone like Danni would have made the ending all the more justified, and the movie more than a mediocre film.
While the message of “Not Okay’” is definitely of utmost importance and extremely relevant to today’s social media landscape, the movie ends up being not okay.
“Not Okay’” is now streaming on Disney+.