Pros: Sophia Lillis’ acting; excellent casting; easy manner of presentation; combination of comedic and dramatic moments; soundtrack; short episodes Cons: Somewhat secondary; Predictable, although hanging in anticipation of the next season, the finale of I Am Not Okay with This / “I’m Not Okay with This”
Genre comic series
Creators Jonathan Entwistle, Christy Hall
Starring Sophia Lillis (Sydney Novak), Wyatt Oleff (Stanley Barber), Sofia Bryant (Dina), Kathleen Rose Perkins (Maggie Novak), Aidan Wojtag-Hissong (Liam), Richard Ellis (Bradley Lewis), etc.
Netflix channel
Year of release 2020–
Episode 7
Site IMDb
The life of high school student Sydney Novak cannot be called rosy. She hates her own mother and desperately misses her father, who committed suicide in the basement of their house six months ago. Sydney is in love with her best friend and is afraid to admit it to her. And, as if all this weren’t enough, Sydney feels like she has some kind of dangerous superpower that she can’t control. Or doesn’t it seem so?
The answer to the last question could have become the main intrigue of the series if the first frame of the first episode of I Am Not Okay with This had not turned out to be a frame that seemed cut out of Stephen King’s Carrie. So from the very beginning we know that this story will not end well, unfortunately. There will be a ball and there will be blood. The main question remains: “Why?”, much like 13 Reasons Why. What events will lead Sydney to this ending?
I Am Not Okay with This, both the series and the comic that formed its basis, is primarily about fears. Fear of being funny. Fear of being rejected. Fear of not being like everyone else. Fear of being misunderstood. By and large, the manifestation of Sydney’s superpowers, which destroy everything around the girl, is a very straightforward analogy of teenage anger directed at parents, teachers and others. Anger as a defensive reaction.
Therefore, not even the bloody ending of the film, which is quite expected, but the hint of the presence behind the scenes of some mystical forces interested in the girl, is perceived in this case as a betrayal. This, after all, is not a horror story about monsters from other dimensions, but a coming-of-age story in the spirit of the same Euphoria, The End of the F***ing World or Wayne. However, perhaps some may even find this ending of the first season interesting, but in our opinion, it is excessive and absurd.
But what the authors of I Am Not Okay with This definitely deserve to be thanked for is the excellent casting for absolutely all the roles. And the most screen time in the series went to Sophia Lillis (Sydney Novak) and Wyatt Oleff (Stanley Barber), the stars of the first part of It. Well, their participation in the film adaptation of King’s novel showed that these actors will go far, in addition, Sophia Lillis also has excellent work in Sharp Objects, where she played Camille Pricker in her youth.
In addition, I Am Not Okay with This is undoubtedly good in its presentation style. Sidney’s Conversations with her Diary, the alternation of comedic and dramatic moments, the pacing, the editing, the excellent choice of soundtrack. All just great. If you forget about the strange ending, it turns out that I Am Not Okay with This is actually a very cool youth series. It’s easy to watch, you can empathize with its characters, and the compact format of seven episodes of 20 minutes allows you to devour it in one evening. And you most likely will not regret the time spent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9vp9lhZiqU
Conclusion:
Another high-quality youth series from Netflix
