not okay

Modern Satire ‘Not Okay’ Explores Cancel Culture Through the Eyes of an ‘Unlikable’ Influencer

Cancel culture has been plaguing us for years now, so it’s only natural that someone would make a movie about it. That movie is Not Okay, and it’s coming to Hulu next week.

A brief trailer dropped ahead of the premiere, and it immediately got the internet talking. It starts with a red warning screen. “This film contains an unlikeable female protagonist. Viewer discretion is advised,” it reads. That unlikeable female protagonist is Danni (Zoey Deutch), “an aimless aspiring writer with no friends, no romantic prospects and — worst of all — no followers,” according to Fox Searchlight.

In the opening shot of the trailer, we see Danni at her laptop, and hear her ask in voiceover, “Have you ever wanted to be noticed so badly, you didn’t even care what it was for?”

Written and directed by Quinn Shephard, Not Okay revolves around a fall from grace. It all begins when Danni fakes a trip to Paris thanks to Photoshop skills in an attempt to increase her social media clout. But when a string of terrorist attacks coincides with her pseudo-travels to the City of Lights, Danni inadvertently becomes branded a hero. Suddenly, she’s a bona fide influencer and an advocate who counts trauma survivor Rowan (Mia Isaac) as a pal and bleach-blonde hunk Colin (Dylan O’Brien) as her boyfriend. It would seem she’s won this rigged game…until the truth comes out, and the internet takes her down…hard.

It’s tough to imagine Deutch being unlikeable, but then again, has there ever been a likable influencer in the history of social media? We think not. But we’ll watch Not Okay anyway because who doesn’t love to see a popular person get what’s coming to them? Get your dose of schadenfreude when the film starts streaming on Hulu on July 29.

Cover Photo: Fox Searchlight
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