Hulu’s ‘Not Okay’ Review: A Gen Z Cringe Comedy With a Surprising Center
There's canceled, and then there's Danni Sanders.
If filmmakers have learned anything about the internet over the past ten years, its’ that trying to faithfully recreate the ever-evolving trends, slang, and fashion that dominate online culture is often a fool’s errand—as quickly as something can become popular online, it’ll become “cringe” twice as fast. Despite a long and unsuccessful history of movies trying to turn out stories about influencers that aren’t completely out of the loop, Quinn Shephard’s Not Okay somehow manages to buck the curse that’s plagued films before it, delivering an eerily familiar (if slightly bombastic) portrait of online fame that’s as funny as it is honest.
Starring Zoey Deutch, Not Okay follows spoiled rich girl/wannabe influencer Danni Sanders, a photo editor at a trendy online magazine who longs to be upgraded to a writer and achieve the same level of online fame as her coworker/office crush Colin (Dylan O’Brien). When she gets the bright idea to invent a phony French writer’s retreat and fake a trip to Paris (with the help of photoshop), her plan seems to be working perfectly—that is, until real-life Paris bombings hit, and everyone assumes she was actually there.
Though the obvious move is to come clean and explain that the Paris photos were fake, Danni, enamored with her newfound fame and attention because of her “survivor” status, sticks to the lie and things spiral out of control—especially when she strikes up a genuine friendship with actual school shooting survivor Rowan (Mia Isaac).
It’s no secret that much of the appeal of Not Okay comes from the film’s attempt to replicate 2020 and 2021 TikTok trends. The film’s production was heavily documented online, and was often the subject of praise for it’s accurate costuming. From the trendy prints to the chunky rings to the bleached hair streaks, Danni looks like she walked straight out of a viral TikTok circa fall 2020. On the whole, there seems to be a (somewhat understandable) disdain for influencers as portrayed in film and TV, so for Not Okay to pay genuine attention to detail in its emulation of online culture is a refreshing change of pace. Yes, it’s poking fun at a chronically-online generation, but it’s also doing so in a clearly affectionate, well-researched way.
At the center of it all, of course, is Zoey Deutch as Danni—a character whose moral dilemma falls in line with characters like Dear Evan Hansen’s titular Evan, but who is afforded none of the forgiveness of the aforementioned film. Though it’s not a wall-to-wall drag through the mud, Not Okay pulls no punches when it comes to portraying its leading lady as morally despicable, nor does it hesitate in recreating the kind of online vitriol (doxxing, death threats, hitler comparisons) that would surely crop up had this whole fiasco happened in real life.
At the same time, though, Danni isn’t an entirely unredeemable character (despite a tongue-in-cheek content warning before the film begins that may say otherwise), nor does Not Okay present her as the type of character we’re supposed to hate for the entire film’s runtime. Yes, her decision not to come clean immediately after the bombing is obviously mind-boggling, and her further deception—especially in regards to Rowan—is despicable, but Deutch gives such a multi-faceted performance that, even when we know Danni has brought this on herself, deep down, you can’t help but feel at least a little bad for her.
Though Danni may make some truly reprehensible decisions, there’s a relatable vulnerability to her, and a desperate yearning for fame, or even just acknowledgment, that I think we can all relate to on some level. The film takes care to remind you that you’re not supposed to be rooting for her when she may get a little too likable—she’s prone to tossing in cringey TikTok slang or bizarre gestures at the wrong times—but it also makes a clear and conscious decision to approach Danni as a character, not just a caricature, and that difference is what helps set her apart from previous depictions of wannabe influencers.
Of course, she’s hardly a paragon of virtue, either. She’s vapid, selfish, spoiled, and seems willfully obtuse when it comes to engaging in any kind of meaningful conversations about trauma. When the time comes for her to craft a “heartfelt” apology, she uses the kind of language we’ve come to expect from notorious Notes App/YouTuber apologies, with scattered excuses to boot: “I will do better. I was depressed at the time. I was high.” But Zoey Deutch’s performance (coupled with Shephard’s spot-on script) is so effective that when the credits roll, it’s hard to leave with a cut and dried opinion about Danni. You clearly don’t love her, but you don’t entirely hate her, either. At the very least, Danni is a character the film takes pains to make you understand, which pays off in a big way.
Surrounding Danni is a gaggle of markedly less fleshed-out stereotypes: equally vapid and trend-obsessed coworkers, yuppy queer characters who barely dodge clichés, and at the center of it all, Dylan O’Brien’s vape-toting Colin: the epitome of E-boy. Though Colin fits much more in line with the type of one-dimensional character we’ve come to expect from internet-driven comedies, there are still moments of honesty when the mask drops—specifically in an exchange with Nadia Alexander’s Harper—that make him a memorable addition beyond the corny laugh and the fake borderline “blaccent.”
Without question, though, Not Okay’s true scene-stealer is Mia Isaac as Rowan—a young school shooting survivor who Danni meets in a trauma survivor support group. While at first Rowan is a little off-put by Danni’s constant slang and bubbly personality, the two quickly form a close bond built on what Rowan believes to be shared trauma. In a film full of dizzying, clout-chasing characters, Rowan is a grounding breath of fresh air, and a welcome presence whenever she’s onscreen.
Though she too could be considered a play on real-life internet-famous teens (though a much more flattering one, based on the likes of X González and Amanda Gorman), her characterization is taken much more seriously and ends up one of the most honest, realistic portrayals of gun violence that Hollywood has produced. Isaac gives a stunning performance. Whether she’s having a heart-to-heart with Danni or delivering spoken word poetry, there’s a simultaneous vulnerability and strength to Rowan that feels far too true to life—and makes it all the more painful knowing that she’ll eventually uncover the truth about the girl she thinks is a friend and fellow survivor.
While, at times, Not Okay does teeter the line between parodying gen z influencers as opposed to reflecting them, the film is still, without question, one of the most successful portrayals of internet fame to date—a cringe comedy for a digital age that has a surprisingly poignant, heartbreaking core. Between the spot-on production design and a pair of dynamic leading ladies in Zoey Deutch and Mia Isaac, Not Okay‘s sharp sensibilities make it a must-watch for 2022, not to mention a definitive entry in the canon of onscreen influencers.
(featured image: Hulu)
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