It’s a good week to be a Hulu subscriber as the streaming service is set to debut a brand new original movie this week, and it’s already receiving plenty of positive reviews.
The movie is called Not Okay and it's scheduled to hit Hulu on Friday, July 29. This satirical comedy stars internet favorites Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien and its early buzz has done enough to earn the film a spot on our roundup of the best new movies to stream this week.
What is Not Okay about?
Not Okay is a cautionary tale about the danger of social media and harboring an obsession with becoming “famous” at any cost. Considering the rise of internet influencer culture over the last few years, that makes Not Okay a pretty relevant movie for a modern audience.
Zoey Deutch plays Danni Sanders, an aspiring writer with questionable future prospects, who decides to fake a trip to Paris in the hopes of boosting her social media following. However, when a terrifying terrorist incident strikes the French capital, Danni is presumed to be the survivor of a horrific ordeal.
Quickly labeled a hero by the internet, Danni is thrown into the limelight and gains a follower count to match. She strikes up an unlikely friendship with a school-shooting survivor Rowan (Mia Isaac) and even starts a relationship with popular travel vlogger Colin (Dylan O’Brien).
However, it’s not long before the cracks in her story start to show, and there’s nothing the internet loves more than a dramatic fall from grace. The film serves as a well-timed reminder that online dogpiles have real victims on the other side.
What do critics say about Not Okay?
Not Okay isn’t due for release until the end of the week, but critics are already having their say. The Hulu original currently scores a very solid 81% on Rotten Tomatoes which would certainly suggest it’s worth a watch.
Katie Erbland of indieWire declares “being perpetually online sucks, but movies about it don’t have to, as Not Okay shows time and again.” While Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter was a little less enthusiastic, but still overall positive, calling the film "a better-than-OK mix of sharp and muddled.”
Slant Magazine’s Derek Smith wasn’t quite so keen, saying “Not Okay doesn’t make any points that, now over a decade into the ubiquity of social media, aren’t painfully obvious.”
Should you stream Not Okay?
With a leading actress that is growing in stature at a remarkable rate, and a central message that is hugely relevant to today’s social media-obsessed generation, Not Okay definitely seems like worth two hours of your time.
The film’s critical reception also indicates that it delivers its message without falling into the pitfall of being too preachy. Not to mention alongside Zoey Deutch you’ve got talented co-stars in Dylan O’Brien and Mia Isaac. By pretty much all accounts, there’s an awful lot about Not Okay that sounds appealing.
If you’re looking for another youthful comedy to enjoy this weekend, make sure to check out Honor Society when it hits Paramount Plus on Friday, July 29. It stars Angourie Rice as an ambitious student looking to get into the college of her dreams, by any means necessary.
