‘Luckiest Girl Alive’ Review – A Writer’s Traumatic Past Rears Its Ugly Head In This Suspenseful Drama

Luckiest Girl Alive, an adaptation of Jessica Knoll’s 2015 bestselling novel, follows TifAni “Ani” FaNelli (Mila Kunis),  a posh and prickly senior magazine editor who is obsessed with moving up the professional ladder and is in the middle of planning the perfect wedding to her insanely rich fiancé, Luke (Finn Wittrock). Her perfectly manicured life begins to fray at the edges when she meets with independent filmmaker, Aaron (Dalmar Abuzeid), who is making a true-crime documentary about a school shooting Ani survived as a teenager.

From there, the film flits back and forth between the past and present as we witness Young Ani (Chiara Aurelia) enter a prestigious private school that educates the children of elite families. Ani’s talent for writing won her a spot at the school and a scholarship that her classmates tease her for receiving. One night, while partying with her new friends, Ani is drugged and sexually assaulted by several of her male classmates. The aftermath culminates in a school shooting that continues to haunt her decades later.

Adult Ani’s sardonic narration guides us through the film as we watch her seemingly well-adjusted and successful façade crumble to dust under the various pressures she faces. Her eccentric and aloof mother (Connie Britton) wants her to put the past behind her and marry into the world of the elite. Her perfect fiancé proclaims to accept her, but scoffs at any decision she tries to make for herself, including the decision to participate in the documentary to tell her side of the story.

The film’s depiction of Ani’s assault is horrific and heartbreaking. The book’s author, Jessica Knoll, served as the film’s writer and is a survivor of sexual assault herself. I suspect this has a lot to do with how the event is portrayed and one can’t help but respect and empathize with Knoll and Ani.

There’s an instance after the first two times Ani is assaulted in which both Ani and the viewers think she will escape this nightmare, only for a third assailant to arrive and force himself on her. Again, horrific and heartbreaking is the only way to accurately describe this scene.

The school shooting scene is harrowing as well. Again, the film does not shy away from showing the violence and horror of these situations.

I can’t praise Aurelia’s portrayal of Young Ani enough. While Kunis portrays the adult version of the character as cynical, jaded and untrusting, Aurelia’s version of the character is sweet, fun-loving, and just wants to be accepted. She’s looking for her tribe, and mistakenly thinks she has found it. Aurelia is an extremely talented young actress and I look forward to see what she does next.

Although Adult Ani can be difficult to root for at times, Kunis does believably and beautifully portray the character’s unraveling and you at least understand why the character is the way she is. You’ll root for her to stand her ground and find a way to truly make peace with all that has happened to her.

Her showdown with former classmate, Dean (Alex Barone), who blames and implicates Ani in the shooting, but takes no personal responsibility for his own actions, was especially satisfying. This scene represents Ani reclaiming her narrative and finally freeing herself of her trauma and others’ opinion of her.

Luckiest Girl Alive is an engrossing film about the lasting impact of trauma and finding the strength to stand in your truth wholeheartedly.

Luckiest Girl Alive debuts on Netflix October 7th.