La chica que lo tenía todo

Movies depicting the aftermath of a sexual assault are incredibly difficult to watch and often too triggering for many to sit through, but deliver some of the most profound and impactful filmmaking we have seen on screen of late, be it the Oscar-nominated "Promising Young Woman (2020)" or the moving Netflix series "Unbelievable (2019)". Although "Luckiest Girl Alive" doesn't rise to such astronomic levels in terms of pure craft, the Mila Kunis starrer is a chilling account of how society's first reaction to such assault is always victim-shaming and how toxic masculinity continues to be celebrated.

Based on a superhit 2015 novel of the same name written by Jessica Knoll, the movie traces the life and career of aspiring columnist "Ani Fanelli" (Mila Kunis) as she balances preparing for her upcoming wedding, a job that is at a crossroads while struggling with the PTSD of a grievous sexual assault from her past. As the mental anguish of all of it continues to take a call, the enterprising but vulnerable Ani is forced to face her demons and how she navigates the aftermath forms the rest of this disturbing but immersive mystery drama.

The performer in Mila Kunis has long been missing in action, with her last memorable outing being the fierce "Lily" in the Oscar-winning "Black Swan (2010)", with the actress seemingly having fallen into a rabbit hole of pointless romcoms. But the Golden Globe nominee sinks her teeth into this brilliantly written role and delivers a moving, dichotomous portrayal that balances ambition and industriousness with the emotional baggage and the scars of her scandalous past.

"Luckiest Girl Alive" is an excellent companion piece to other female-led literary works that translated into excellent mystery thrillers on screen, like "Gone Girl", "The Girl on the Train (2016)" as well as the "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series. Be forewarned of difficult-to-stomach scenes of sexual assault and violence but I promise you, the final act will leave you satisfied with the culmination of events. Recommended!

Film is an interesting blend.

A "boss girl" type film, the protagonist even has the typical sassy inner monologue.

However the movie has an incredibly nuanced portrayal of a woman who has suffered serious trauma.

Many films portray victims as weathered survivors.

This film shows the victim as extremely put-together and successful.

It's a take I haven't seen before, and it's definitely one that is good to see.

The movie uses two incredibly sensitive topics as plot devices, if the movie was any lesser, it would have trivilalized those topics.

But the unrelenting nature of the portrayals of those topics only adds to the movie to show what the protagonist has overcome.

The book was a million times more (not better; apples and oranges) than the movie. I don't think it's fair to expect 1.5 hours to do it justice. I can't give an unbiased review if the movie after reading the book so the movie was decent but the depth and development in the book deserves a mini series. Without the buildup, background, and character development some of the story seems incomplete and really paints a better picture of surviving/victimhood. I worry that it became more of a message than a quality story. That being said, the casting for Ani and Luke (especially) was great! I think it's a movie worth watching if you haven't read the book.

I cannot put my finger on what was wrong with this movie. The story was good. I am not sure where it went wrong. It could have been Mila's performance, the perfect rich unicorn boyfriend, the one dimensional characters or the editing. First of all, the movie could have been much shorter. Second of all, it failed to make me care much about Mila's character. I don't know why. She had a good story and I understood what she went through. I think it's how she acted, it was a bit off, one dimensional. Actually all the characters were one dimensional. It was annoying in a sense, same stereotypes and say exactly what you expect them to say. And the boyfriend was just so patient and perfect it makes one nauseous. It felt unrealistic. It's one of those movies, that I am not sure if I am happy I watched or not.

Knoll should stick to writing books, not screenplays. In the convoluted, incohesive and dragged out 113 minute runtime, the story is all over the place, with poorly placed timeline tidbits, and ridiculous and mostly unnecessary scenes and dialogue.

The entire film felt one hour too long and failed to maintain any fluidity to the sensitive nature of its content. It lacked the consistency, depth and tone to be a suspenseful narrative, and instead, chose pretentious shock value trauma in a misguided self-serving fantasy theme.

And that's too bad, because the casting and performances were spot-on, especially Kunis who shined. Had any seasoned filmmaker made some much needed edits, they would've have gone a long way to make this a great watch, instead of getting impatient, frustrated and uninterested in what was going to happen next in the bender-mixed writing and directing. It's a generous 6/10 mainly for the performances.