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NOT OKAY MOVIE REVIEW
Hulu’s recent dark comedy satire Not Okay opens with a card offering a content warning that “This film contains flashing lights, themes of trauma, and an unlikable female protagonist. Viewer discretion advised.” Unfortunately, it’s not entirely clear that that is intended to be a joke. Hulu isn’t going to start throwing warnings of mean ladies at the front of their movies. It’s an attempt at satire that misses the mark. And, as Harmoni, Ryan, Chad and T.C. discuss, that might be a problem with this movie. It doesn’t know if it wants to be pertinent dark comedy or poignant social commentary drama. Danni Sanders (played by Zoey Deutch), is a privileged and aspiring writer with zero social media presence and no actual friends. She is desperate to claim a level of fame and celebrity she absolutely believes she deserves. She fakes a trip to Paris with social media posts and is flung into a massive lie when a terrorist attack occurs in France the very moments she’s supposedly there. Danni is showered with attention, and decides to lean into the lie. Her job gives her a promotion she doesn’t deserve. She hooks up with famous social media douche bag and proto-Paul brother (Dylan O’Brien). But worst of all, she befriends Rowan (Mia Isaac), a young survivor of a tragic school shooting. Danni leeches off of Rowan’s fame and grief while making her first and only true friend. But, lies this big tend to implode, and as the movie tells us in the opening moments, it definitely does. But, like a fake trip to France, it’s about the journey, not the destination. So, what did the Squad think about the journey of Danni Sanders? Was it Okay or Not?
DIRECTED BY: Quinn Shephard
STARRING: Zoey Deutch, Mia Isaac, Dylan O’Brien, Nadia Alexander, Tia Dionne Hodge, Negin Farsad, Embeth Davidtz, Brennan Brown, Karan Soni, Dash Perry, Sarah Yarkin, Caroline Calloway, Quinn Shephard, Rocco Botte, Shawn Chatfield
YOUR REVIEWERS
T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)
T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.
Harmoni Anderson (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Unstabletop Gaming)
Harmoni is a mermaid-haired, millennial, rum drinking, Section 31, Slytherin (who’s divorced J.K. Rowling) preschool/nursery teacher and multi genre geek who also loves all things film, tv, fashion, makeup, and an embarrassingly huge BTS stan. Like really embarrassing. As in, mention them and then sit back and watch the insanity. Harmoni likes being able to game and talk movies/TV with people that aren’t 3 feet tall or all that demanding of her. Plus she can curse at us and not get fired….so bonus!
Ryan Aleck Hill (Screener Squad, Video and Audio editor)
Ryan is a Washington D.C. based filmmaker & video editor who loves watching and talking about movies more than just about anything. He currently works at a creative agency as a director of photography/video editor, and does freelance video editing for Anthony Fantano/TheNeedleDrop. He also has a YouTube channel (Downhill Media) where he works on a weirdo art explainer series called “Artsplained” with his partner Michelle. He was a part of the Spill.com community way back in the day, where he was cursed with an obsession for movies. In an effort to break the curse, he shows up on the Screener Squad podcast every once in a while and edits for One Of Us. Chris Cox claims that this is the only way it can be broken. You can follow him on Twitter but you’ll probably regret it.
Chad Halvorsen (Screener Squad)
Chad Halvorsen currently resides in Milwaukee, WI, where he produces and edits commercials, films, and everything in between. He was always a fan of film/television growing up, spending days in the Summer, making (terrible) home movies with his brothers. Little did he know that passion would carry on into adulthood. Since 2006, Chad has worked for several agencies in various departments. Shooting, producing, editing, production management, directing, and when forced to, writing copy. In 2015, Chad decided to take the big leap and become a freelancer. Since then, he’s produced content for Lyft, AT&T, Target, and Discovery Network. His passion lies in entertaining people, making them feel better, even for a moment. All the pain and suffering of this business is worth it, if even just one person views his work. Chad is a frequent podcaster, most notably posing as a co-host for the podcast “The Film Illogical Society.”
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