I Am Not Okay with This is streaming now on Netflix.
What do you get when you cross John Hughes with Carrie and add a splash of Stranger Things? The answer might be found in the new Netflix comic book drama I Am Not Okay With This, a deliciously dark comic book adaptation from the same universe as The End of the F***ing World. Here we find the story of a teenage girl struggling with grief, awkwardness, acne and emerging sexuality, and some troublesome latent superpowers. The result is one of the most engaging comic book adaptations of recent years, split into a series of seven 25-minute episodes.
Still reeling from her father’s suicide, Sydney Novak (Sophia Lillis), is not exactly living the teen dream as she battles with her recent relocation to a small town, arguments with her mum and a best friend, Dina (Sofia Bryant), who may be something more. Meanwhile, Sydney’s weed-smoking geeky neighbour (Wyatt Oleff) happens to fancy the hell out of her. But the cherry on top of all this teen angst is her emerging telekinetic powers, over which she has little control.
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There is nothing new in the notion of superpowers interfacing with puberty; it’s a mainstay of the comic book origin story. But it’s rare to see these stories placed into the hands of a teenage girl and even more rare to find them dovetailed with the coming out process. Here I Am Not Okay With This feels fresh, new and sharp in an ocean of competing titles. This is helped enormously by the casting of Sophie Lillis and Wyatt Oleff, who last appeared together in IT Chapters One and Two.
However, I fear I Am Not Okay With This, may suffer on a platform like Netflix. Why, I hear you ask? Audiences may binge and move on with so many streaming choices and a relatively short first run that can be binged in one day. Therefore, it may have succeeded more on an episodic platform. It would be unfortunate if this were to be the case, as this is a show that deserves your attention and a second season, as the final episode subverts the original and controversial comic book ending.
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Created By: Jonathan Entwistle, Christy Hall
Cast: Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff, Sofia Bryant, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Richard Ellis
