The first time I remember hearing about “The Life List”, I was instantly intrigued. A Netflix rom-com starring none other than Sofia Carson—what could go wrong?
I had fallen in love with Carson’s acting since her appearance in the Descendants series on Disney, and I’d been watching where she’d venture next. A successful musician, actress, fashionista, and more—Carson no doubt brought a lot to the table.
The Life List starts the way most rom-coms do, introducing us to the main characters and planting the seeds of a major obstacle that is soon to affect our protagonist. Alex, played by Carson, finds out that her mom (played by Connie Britton) has had her cancer return. Minutes later, after a flash-forward, Alex is attending her wake. On top of Alex’s already upended life (being fired as a teacher and instead working at her mom’s marketing department), losing the closest person to her is a burden she’s not at all equipped to face.
To make matters worse, when Brad (super cute lawyer!) reads her late mother’s will, Alex is essentially left out completely, fired from her job at the marketing department, and given a beyond-the-grave ultimatum from her mom: complete a life list written at age thirteen before year’s end, and she’ll get her inheritance. Alex’s life list features things like learning how to drive, getting a tattoo, as well as heavy and time-consuming tasks such as being a great teacher, finding true love (note on that later), and reconnecting with her estranged (not biological?) father.
Throughout the movie, Carson’s character seems like the writers tried too hard to give her emotional depth instead of letting Carson take the reins. There’s the third-quarter “who will it be” trope as Alex tries to cross off the last wish on the life list, but it feels too rushed—which is ironic given the movie’s running time crosses into the two-hour mark. Nevertheless, Carson’s acting was perhaps the most authentic we have seen from her in her career. She effortlessly uses her range of experience to craft a palette of relatability and complexity that other main characters of rom-com films would not have been able to cling to. Perhaps the cancer plotline was an effective addition to the story, adding a new element to a traditional Netflix one-two romantic puncher.
Another thing of note is the easygoing yet still somewhat rigid plotline. It’s not unpredictable, but it still manages to provoke thought. It gives you the opportunity to sit down and just enjoy the simple point-A-to-point-B aspirations, while still challenging what a fulfilling life means to you.
If nothing else, it allows you a moment for a double take, forcing you to confront your own inability to chase your dreams. “The Life List” is a dreary-but-hopeful romantic watch.
At its best, it will inspire you to drop the leisure in your life in pursuit of an avant-garde career, and at its worst, it will be a two-hour-long watch during a sick day at home that you will remember nothing of—besides the Burlington, Vermont reference at the end.
