“Talk about what you know well” is a slogan that seems to have been applied, and with very good results, Quinn Shephard. The young actress and filmmaker has managed to give her personal touch to hers in two of her feature films: both in her first feature film ‘Blame’ (which she wrote, directed, starred in and edited when she was only 22 years old) and in ‘Not Okay’, a funny and complex satire of social media and privilege which recently premiered on Disney+.
Danny in Paris
Danni Sanders is a photo editor and copywriter at a magazine with a distinct lack of ideas for her next article. To impress a co-worker, who is a well-known influencer, Danni fakes a trip to Paris by uploading photoshopped photos to networks. things go wrong when there is an attack in paris and decides to continue pretending, becoming an influencer overnight.
‘Not Okay’ begins as a black comedy from its first bars, when Danni is introduced to us in a chat with her boss, commenting on a text of hers in which she says that “her greatest trauma” is not having lived through 9/11. And it is that, despite its apparent lightnesswe are before a film that has a lot to tell.
If in ‘Blame’ (which in Spain we could only see briefly through Filmin) Shephard gave an interesting twist to the high school genre, here uses ‘Emily in Paris’ style story conventions to put on the table topics that cannot be more topical.
It is interesting the reflection on social networks, with all its lights and shadows. On the one hand, Shephard satirises the most negative side, the way in which that space is used for frivolous and selfish reasons, where anonymity serves as an incentive for many to unload all their hatred and even the most just cause cannot avoid being the focus. of the same.
The director also shows the other side of the coin: through the character of Rowan (Mia Isaac) it is shown that it is possible to use networks to interact positively with other people, give a voice to people who have no other means of communication and even create a supportive community that helps put a name to the problems. The shade is clear: networks are not intrinsically bad, but the use we give them.
Lies in the network
The criticism raised by Shephard goes further: the use of social networks is a symptom of the real social problem. The protagonist is an ironic representation of a pathological need for attention, derived from the lack of awareness of one’s privilege.
All these themes are there and they flow through the tone of comedy that veers towards drama, with a really dynamic rhythm that keeps the interest throughout the footage. If anything, it slacks off a bit at the end underline both the conclusion you want to reachperhaps for fear that viewers will confuse the fact that Danni is the protagonist with the story justifying her actions (it was quite clear but hey, it’s a minor mistake that doesn’t just tarnish the whole).
Zoey Deutch She’s fantastic in her portrayal of Danni, giving her just the right amount of frivolity but without losing sight of the character’s humanity. Although her interpretation is the one that shines the most, she is also worth mentioning mia isaacanother of the great discoveries, and that of Dylan O’Brien with his parody of the typical hanged influencer as an effective comedic gag.
In short, ‘Not Okay’ is a hilarious satire full of black humor about the use of social networks, about privilege and the lack of awareness about it. With a stupendous Zoey Deutch, it’s the perfect example that you can deal with complex topics while remaining tremendously entertaining and leaves us eager to see what next project its director will bring us.