Many films have attempted to breach into the world of internet culture, either through scathing analyses or satirical comedies, but none of them truly ever capture the horrors that plague the social media driven society we’ve all grown accustom to (minus Eighth Grade but that captures a very specific moment in time). Not Okay is one of the few films that comes close to showcasing the absurdity of the internet, it’s not perfect but for what it presents, it’s an enjoyable time with some level of criticism and analysis on the state of our world at the moment, and the value placed on social media.
The acting is absolutely phenomenal. If you’re susceptible to second hand embarrassment, then prepare to be uncomfortable, as Zoey Deutch masterfully brings the character of Danni to life. Filled with the awkward use of internet facial expressions, and the inability to interact with other humans, that’s layered behind someone who is just sad and lonely, she does a fantastic job at making you hate her but understanding what led her to the position she gets into. Mia Isacc is the perfect opposition to her character and gives such an incredible performance throughout. Dylan O’Brien despite being all over the press for this film isn’t really in it much but for what he was given, he was ok.
The thing that holds this film back I think is it’s tone. It is a really funny film, it nails its comedic moments, which is hard to say with a lot of recent films, but this distracts from the quite sad nature of what’s going on. It would’ve been nice to explore Danni’s loneliness more and have more of an examination into why she keeps this charade going. It’s clear that her guilt is building throughout the film with the use of visions, but it never goes deeper than that with what’s going on in her head.
However, despite this, the film is impressive in how it’s able to capture the influencer first nature of the internet and the problems it creates with that: quality vs viral content, people cancelling celebrities, using tragedy as fuel and the falsity of the people. It just was surface level most of the time and never really dove any deeper. It’s the acting that really elevated this.
★★★1/2
