Did you ever make a ‘life list’, full of everything you wished to accomplish? A bucket list that when discovered again after all the lost years became a treasure trove of forgotten hopes and dreams? The Life List (adapted from the book of the same name) follows 29 year-old Alex Rose (Sofia Carson) as she sets out to complete her teenage bucket list following the death of her beloved mother Elizabeth (Connie Britton). Despite its traditional rom-com arc and the revelations regarding her family, the story itself is fixated on Alex’s relationship with herself and her alignment with her true needs.
While the list itself is simplistic, its simplicity makes it meaningful.
At the beginning of the movie, following her mother’s death Alex is told she must complete the entire list in order to receive her inheritance, and to make matters worse she only has a year to do so before she reaches the deadline. We watch her embark on this journey where she is tasked to learn and play Debussy’s ‘Clair de Lune’, make peace with her dad, and fall in love (among other things). But the most poignant moments lie in the quiet videos she receives from her mother after each task is completed. While the list itself is simplistic, its simplicity makes it meaningful. For example, learning how to play ‘Clair de Lune’ does not make Alex in any way a better person. She learns it for her mother (whose favourite song is ‘Clair de Lune’), and in doing so is piecing back the childhood that she left behind. She is carrying that part of herself with her and this amongst other parts of her list are reminding her of everything and everyone that makes up who she is.
Carson does a fantastic job of having Alex be the embodiment of a confused, lost, unsure yet still teeming with promise twenty-something. She creates a character that is not in any great way tragic or broken down by the world but is still stuck within it – one reflective of how the movie is “for everyone who’s still figuring [life] out”. Whilst this may be controversial, I prefer the movie’s lack of focus on Alex’s past. It wastes no time explaining the events that caused her to be so clouded and misaligned with herself and through this makes her more relatable. Too often are movies focused heavily on a tragic copy-paste backstory which makes the characters niche instead of rounded but not every movie needs to be a take on a great Shakespearian play. Alex is human – she is not in her dream career, not in an ideal relationship and she is completely stricken with grief. She has almost a clean slate and instead of trudging up her past the movie uses this to her advantage. Through her journey, she becomes closer to her true self by focusing her energy on everything that brings her joy and peace. She makes the scary choices, the brave choices that could cause her to fail but through her tenacity she succeeds because why would you live tentatively when you only live once?
It considers what may be truly important in a relationship in a summarised and neat fashion, almost as if it is a test waiting to be reposted on TikTok
Of course, a rom-com would never be complete without a love interest – cue Bradley Ackerman (Kyle Allen). While Alex attempts to complete her life list, Brad (the lawyer overseeing her mother’s will) grows as both a friend and advisor, cheering and encouraging her path. Their relationship acts as a healthy contrast to both her previous relationships shown in the movie, evident through Carson and Allen’s chemistry and behaviours but prominent in their characters’ similarities. The true test of love is completed when compared against her mother’s true love test. The questions act as a guide of whether a relationship has room to last, and many viewers have already put it (and their significant others) to the test after watching. The questions are as follows: ‘Is he kind? Can you tell him everything in your heart? Does he help you become the best version of yourself? Can you see him as the father of your children?’. In a generation of red flags, cancel culture and ‘icks’, finally there is a video that conceptualises feelings beyond the surface. It considers what may be truly important in a relationship in a summarised and neat fashion, almost as if it is a test waiting to be reposted on TikTok and Instagram. The questions themselves reiterate the purpose of the movie – if something does not align with your ideals and purpose, perhaps it is not beneficial for your life and happiness.
So, I suppose her mother really did know best in the end? Or maybe her teenage self was the closest she ever was to happiness before being clouded by the world? Maybe sometimes all you do need is to dive into the deep end and hope you can swim your way out of it?
While this is a rom-com, where the ending is guaranteed to be positive, it still holds very true to life. If as a viewer we give Alex the benefit of the doubt and know she can truly find the happiness she is seeking, if not make it herself, should that not reign true for every twenty-something watching it? Our lives may not be movies but Alex’s dreams were not grand in any way. She wanted to be a teacher with a decent salary, she wanted to create a loving family, she wanted her childhood home intact, she wanted to feel unburdened and unrestricted, to stop racing and competing against every other person in the room and she did that. She slowed down when she thought she was supposed to speed up. So in a world that tells you to travel but also stay at home and earn, to study but also quit and get on the corporate ladder, to dream but also be realistic, to love but also be guarded and not naïve, to be good at a range of hobbies, have a wealth of knowledge, have a wealth of wealth and to do it all with a smile, never once faltering or breaking – just stop. “Life is beautiful and messy and complicated and sometimes it doesn’t look the way you think it’s supposed to look and that is okay. Keep going”, it’s okay to still be “figuring it out” – I mean, even Netflix thinks it’s an interesting enough plot to watch. So, take a minute, and think, really think and ask yourself one question: What would be on your life list?
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