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Mila Kunis' new Netflix movie, Luckiest Girl Alive, is topping the streamer's weekly movie chart in spite of negative reviews and criticism from some viewers.
Luckiest Girl Alive, adapted from the novel of the same name by its author Jessica Knoll, follows Kunis' character Ani, who seems to have everything she could ever want. But, when a crime documentary director reaches out about an incident that occurred at her high school, Ani must face up to a truth that could destroy her perfect life.
The movie currently sits at a low 43% on Rotten Tomatoes, though its Audience Score is a much higher 77%. The film deals with the heavy topics of sexual assault and a school shooting, which has led to some viewers to call for trigger warnings on Netflix (H/T The Independent).
"Hey Netflix a content warning would have been nice!!!" writes one person. "Graphic sexual assault and school shooting in this movie and there was no content warning or anything at all?? That's messed up." Netflix does display the rating of the movie in the top left corner when you start the film, though, for "sexual violence, violence, and threat."
"Scenes of assault and subsequent gaslighting – by family and society – exude a raw urgency that viscerally conveys the inner rage Knoll’s onscreen alter-ego Ani (played by Mila Kunis and Chiara Aurelia, at different ages) must constantly hold back," writes Luke Y. Thompson for AV Club. "But there's a lot more movie than that, and not all of it works as well as those few extremely powerful moments."
"There are pieces of Luckiest Girl Alive that seem interested in a life splintered by trauma, in the relief of unburdening, the hunger for certainty over what happened, the thrill of playing on cultural expectations for women," says The Guardian's Adrian Horton. "But the story it ultimately tells is an empty, self-serving fantasy."
"Based on the book of the same name by Jessica Knoll, who also serves as screenwriter, the movie not only dramatizes a school shooting in poor taste, it has the gall to use one as the backdrop while it also exploits rape trauma in the name of girl boss feminism," says Marya E. Gates for RogerEbert.com.
But, the film also netted positive reviews, with Erik Massoto for Collider writing: "None of the nuance in the story would be possible without its main actor, though. Mila Kunis' performance is hypnotic, and keeps you on the edge of your seat at every turn. You never know what she’s going to do or say, and once the movie starts wrapping up and makes the core of her behavior clear, you fully understand and relate to the character. If you finish watching Luckiest Girl Alive without feeling as angry as Ani, you didn’t watch it right."
One viewer on Twitter also calls the film "one of the most powerful things I've ever watched," with another writing: "This was such a powerful and important film and Mila did an incredible job wow. It had some painfully accurate moments exploring trauma & grief. The transitions between teen Ani and adult Ani were excellent. The ending was perfect. I loved it. Amazing film"
Luckiest Girl Alive is streaming now. If you're caught up, see our roundup of the best Netflix movies to fill out your watchlist.
