This review contains spoilers.
It seems that in the past few years, we’ve gotten a lot of book-to-film adaptations, and I don’t think that will stop anytime soon. I opened Netflix the other day to find something to watch, and I saw a new movie my friend recommended called “The Life List.” The premise of the movie sounded like a book plot, so I looked it up, and low and behold the movie is based loosely on the book ”The Life List” by Lori Nelson Spielman. There were things changed like names and items on the list, but the plot is the same. The movie is described on Netflix as “feel-good, heartfelt and emotional,” which is right up my alley, so I decided to watch it.
In the movie, we have Alex, played by Sofia Carson, a girl who is struggling to figure out where her life is going, like many young adults. Even though she has a job at her mother’s multimillion-dollar cosmetics company and a boyfriend who she likes, for some reason, she feels incomplete and unhappy. Soon, we find that her mother’s cancer has come back, and this time, it’s terminal. When at the reading of her mother’s will, while she and her siblings expect the company to go to Alex, her mother actually gives it to her sister-in-law with something else in mind for Alex. The executor of the will, Brad, played by Kyle Allen, tells Alex her mother wants her to complete the bucket list Alex made for herself when she was thirteen by the new year, and every time she checks one off the list, she’ll get a CD recording of her mother filmed prior to her death. With this information, Alex reluctantly sets out to complete her list with the help of Brad.
This movie made me cry and smile within five minutes of each other. I loved this movie; it showed a beautiful relationship between a mother and her daughter, a relatable girl who is trying to figure out life, and a cute friends-to-lovers romance that we didn’t know we needed. It made me want to create my own life list, a list of goals I want to complete that are important to me. I thought Alex was very relatable in the sense that she is stubborn and independent. She forces herself to believe she has it all together, but deep down, she knows she doesn’t. Her siblings and sisters-in-law were very supportive throughout the film, and I appreciated that they showed some of that. I also loved Brad so much. He was so adorably supportive of Alex and never judged her or made her feel like she should be anyone but herself, making him another perfect fictional boyfriend.
Overall, I would give the movie four out of five stars. I really enjoyed it, and it’s a great movie to watch alone, with friends, or maybe with your siblings. I personally think Netflix did a great job adapting this movie, and I will be rewatching it a few times. I highly recommend you check out ”The Life List” on Netflix.