Luckiest Girl Alive

Ani FaNelli (Mila Kunis) sits in front of stained glass windows in her former high school, the private and prestigious Bradley School in suburban Philadelphia.

“The knee-jerk reaction is to dismiss Ani as vain and vapid,” Knoll told the New York Times. “One woman’s carefully orchestrated, perfect life slowly cracks to reveal a dark underbelly in Knoll’s knockout debut novel,” read the review in Publishers Weekly. Luckiest Girl Alive, an adaptation of a 2015 book by the same name, releases on Netflix on Friday. “You are not the daughter that I raised.” “Luckiest girl alive right here.” “Not everyone has that.”

Based on Jessica Knoll's 2015 novel of the same name, Luckiest Girl Alive gives a refreshing voice to a lot of what usually goes unsaid—bullying, ...

Luckiest Girl Alive does too and it does more; it leaves you with a haunting William Faulkner quote: “The past is never dead. Based on Jessica Knoll’s 2015 novel of the same name which was also an NYT bestseller, Luckiest Girl Alive amplifies a lot of what usually remains unsaid—bullying, gun violence in American schools, sexual assault, rape, the stigma around victimhood, and the discrimination and humiliation that people from low-income backgrounds suffer. Watch out for the scene when the young Ani apologetically tells her boyfriend that she thinks she was raped. Mila Kunis makes Ani her own with care and nuance, making you push back, gasp for breath, and pass a sly smile when she does. She lives in New York City, is gearing up for a posh wedding, and is about to be offered the position of senior editor at the New York Times Magazine. Ani Fanelli is a 28-year-old senior editor at The Women’s Bible, a magazine for men’s pleasure.

"Luckiest Girl Alive" has a lot going on, in a way that undermines the movie's translation from book to screen. Mila Kunis produces and stars in this ...

But “Luckiest Girl Alive” falls short of its promise, a reminder that, however ironic the title is intended to be, fortune tends to favor the bold. As constructed, unfortunately, in an adaptation of the book written by its author, Jessica Knoll, and directed by Mike Barker, “Luckiest Girl Alive” feels as if it’s juggling too many plates – joining the story in progress and laboring to connect the mass shooting to Ani’s story in a way that muddles the mystery. “Luckiest Girl Alive” has a lot going on, in a way that undermines the movie’s translation from book to screen.

In 2017, the “Luckiest Girl Alive” bestselling author and, now, screenwriter Jessica Knoll wrote about what happened to her at age 15, and how it informed ...

Jessica Knoll, who wrote the mystery novel the film is based on, serves as the script writer for Luckiest Girl Alive. In such a context, ...

The part of being and pretending to be ought to have been presented in a manner different from what made it to the final cut. Maybe because her younger self is more real and raw (not playing to the gallery, so to speak), we are able to readily empathise with her. One of her assaulters who became disabled on the day of the shooting has now become a famous proponent of gun-control. She has made it into an elite world and is willing to do whatever it takes to stay. Central character Ani Fanelli (Mila Kunis) comes off as a sort of unreliable narrator type with her people-pleasing behaviour on the outside in direct contrast to who she is on the inside. Although it isn’t one we haven’t heard before, it dives deep into the pressing issues of gender, bullying, peer pressure, sexual assault and an attempt to fit in at any cost.

The film never rises to exceptional heights with its visuals and doesn't quite have the moving writing Knoll was praised for when she wrote her book.

Her narrative is vital, and despite the intent to expose the darkness of the reality of her situation, the film is ultimately uneven. There is also the undeniable pull of Mila Kunis, regardless of the quality of the film she stars in. The quality of the script is subpar; it simply and matter-of-factly presents the events of the book. Ani explains that she is not the typical woman her fiancé would be engaged to because she isn’t some blonde; she is a survivor who has clawed her way to the top. Luckiest Girl Alive follows Ani (Mila Kunis), a successful 28-year-old magazine writer who seemingly has her life in order and is about to embark on a new adventure — marriage. After several years of Hollywood attempting to replicate the success of Gone Girl and the push for women-led narratives that delve into the darkness of humanity, Luckiest Girl Alive and Knoll are finally getting their moment on Netflix.