Luckiest Girl Alive Review: Do You Like Your Life

Luckiest Girl Alive is an emotional drama, thriller currently streaming on Netflix. It stars Mila Kunis and Finn Wittrock. Luckiest Girl Alive is based on the novel written by Jessica Knoll in 2015, and while it isn’t based on a true story, the book does contain themes and events from Knoll’s own upbringing.

This movie is very powerful, and it contains some very big topics. Taking on emotional themes such as sexual abuse and gun violence comes with a lot of baggage, and Luckiest Girl Alive was uncomfortable to watch. If you have any type of experience with either topic, this movie should probably have a trigger warning of sorts on it.

Who’s in Luckiest Girl Alive?

Luckiest Girl Alive stars Mila Kunis, Finn Wittrock, and Chiara Aurelia. Mila Kunis plays Ani Fanelli, a journalist with aspirations to work at the New York Times. Ani lives a polished life with her fiancé Luke, but most of the time it feels like she is doing and saying what others want her to say, instead of living her own life. Luke Harrison, played by Finn Wittrock, is Ani’s fiancé and he is very rich. He played college lacrosse and comes from a family with a lot of money, exactly the kind of man Ani’s mom wanted her to attract.

Chiara Aurelia plays a young Ani, and Aurelia has some of the most difficult scenes in Luckiest Girl Alive. Any of the traumatic moments, some of the most upsetting scenes, fell under her responsibilities as they all occurred to Ani as a teenage. I think she did a really good job in this role, portraying the emotional, high-octane scenes in an uncomfortable manner.

Why Should You Watch Luckiest Girl Alive?

There are handful of reasons Luckiest Girl Alive lands pretty high on my list of 2022 Netflix Movies, but it being very captivating is definitely one of them. I couldn’t stop watching, no matter how emotional or uncomfortable it got. The scenes were really well done, and I liked the cinematography quite a lot. It created an environment where my skin was crawling in disgust but I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

Our acting plays a large part in making this movie really, really good. Mila Kunis fits the role nearly perfectly, and plays Ani quite well. Finn Wittrock was good as well, but he doesn’t play nearly as large of a role are our two women leads. By having two versions of Ani, aged apart, allows for Kunis to show us the ways the trauma has affected Ani’s life long after, instead of telling us about it.

I thought the character development was huge, especially early on in the movie as it set the tone for the trauma that occurs and is shown later on. These events would have been emotional either way, but when there is emotional attachment to the character, they hit even harder. Even the set up of smaller characters in Ani’s past make the events that come mean that much more. The writing was really well done, and it did the rest of the movie justice.

For a two-hour movie, it doesn’t feel that long. I thought the pacing was really well done. The movie explores a lot in a short period of time, between Young Ani and current Ani, but it didn’t ever feel rushed. It just felt full of content, which I love to see.

Our plot is kind of all over the place on purpose, but it does revolve around Ani figuring out who she is. The ending of Luckiest Girl Alive is awesome, and it brings Ani’s character arc to close. I don’t want to go into it to avoid spoilers, but it’s a great way to end the move and display how Ani has changed.

Why Shouldn’t You Watch Luckiest Girl Alive?

I really enjoyed watching Luckiest Girl Alive, but some of the best parts are also the worst parts. The reason this movie is so captivating is due to the trauma Ani experiences and the fallout from that. It’s a sad, upsetting movie, and if you struggle with that, this is going to be a bad movie. Also the subject matter is quite traumatic and could reopen wounds for people, so be wary of that.

Other than that, from a pure cinematic perspective, this was a really good movie. Mila Kunis did a great job, and Aurelia was really good in some really difficult scenes. The content mater is real gross, but the movie was oh-so captivating that I could not stop watching. It bothered me in my core, and the issues that Ani faces after the fact, as an adult, might have been the sadness part. A really good, but upsetting movie that definitely earns the ‘R’ rating.