NOT OKAY is a dark comedy about one woman’s misguided attempt to become the Internet’s next trending personality. A mix of cautionary tale and social satire, its story traces back to writer-director Quinn Shephard’s experience of the cultural collision online during the last few years.
“I found myself deeply affected by the endless scroll through frightening news headlines, mixed ceaselessly with influencer scandals, cancel culture, and sponsored ads for skincare that are supposed to somehow make you forget that the world is burning,” says Shephard. “Writing NOT OKAY was a way for me to cope with the emotional information overload I was experiencing and use satire to critique it.”
Courtesy of Searchlight/Hulu
NOT OKAY’s characters should be familiar to those with a passing knowledge of the most notorious swindlers of the internet age. Its “heroine”, Danni Sanders (Zoey Deutch), is a photo editor at a content mine who aspires to be the next viral sensation. Her co-worker/crush Colin (Dylan O’Brien), is a weed boi influencer. Her nemesis Harper (Nadia Alexander) is a feminist crusader who trades in RBG think pieces. And her new ally is Rowan, (Mia Isaac) a real trauma survivor turned gun violence advocate; the only virtuous one of the bunch.
As written by Shephard, they’re all tragic figures, each using the Web in an attempt to cope with collective trauma.
“[The movie] really dives into what we’re dealing with as a generation,” says Nadia Alexander, who plays Harper. “When you scroll in your phone, you see baby goats and influencers next to stories about terrorist attacks and governments toppling, and then it’s like, ‘buy this thing’ and, ‘are you skinny enough, what do you need to do?’ And it’s just this constant information overload.”
“This isn’t a social media movie,” Deutch elaborates. “This is, to me, more of a social commentary.” It’s the natural endpoint of a movie that Shephard wrote to explore and satirize the devil’s bargain a whole generation has made with the Internet.
“That’s what I loved about my first conversation with Quinn – that NOT OKAY isn’t meant to be seen as anything negative about social media,” says O’Brien. “It’s highlighting the realities that surround us that we all participate in. It just is what it is.”
“I don’t think this film is telling audiences to throw their phones in the ocean and that social media is evil,” says Shephard. “But you should definitely take all the noise online with a major grain of salt. And also, to question whose stories get told, and why and how they are told.”
“A lot of good happens online and so does a lot of bad,” she continues. “We definitely need to stop seeking meaning in our lives from it, because the Internet will never love you back. But we have to learn to co-exist peacefully with it because I’m pretty sure it’s here to stay.”
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- Quinn Shephard and Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Photo by Amber Asaly. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved.
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- Dylan O’Brien and Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Photo by Nicole Rivelli. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved
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- Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved
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- (From L-R): Kirk White, Zoey Deutch and Mia Isaac in the film NOT OKAY. Photo by Nicole Rivelli. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved
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- Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Photo by Nicole Rivelli. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved
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- Quinn Shephard on set of the film NOT OKAY. Photo by Nicole Rivelli. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century Studios All Rights Reserved
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- Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Mia Isaac in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Mia Isaac and Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Dylan O’Brien and Zoey Deutch in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Zoey Deutch and Dylan O’Brien in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Nadia Alexander in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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- Dylan O’Brien in the film NOT OKAY. Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2022 20th Century
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Synopsis:
Danni Sanders (Zoey Deutch), an aimless aspiring writer with no friends, no romantic prospects, and — worst of all — no followers, fakes an Instagram-friendly trip to Paris in the hopes of boosting her social media clout. When a terrifying incident strikes the City of Lights, Danni unwittingly falls into a lie bigger than she ever imagined. She “returns” as a hero, even striking up an unlikely friendship with Rowan (Mia Isaac), a real trauma survivor dedicated to societal change, and scooping up the man of her dreams Colin (Dylan O’Brien). As an influencer and advocate, Danni finally has the life and audience she always wanted. But it’s only a matter of time before the façade cracks, and she learns the hard way that the Internet loves a takedown.
Searchlight Pictures presents NOT OKAY, written and directed by Quinn Shephard, produced by Brad Weston and Caroline Jaczko. Starring Zoey Deutch Dylan O’Brien, Mia Isaac, Embeth Davidtz, Nadia Alexander, Tia Dionne Hodge, and Negin Farsad.
NOT OKAY will premiere on Hulu on July 29, 2022.
Monica has a BA in Journalism and English from the University of Massachusetts and an MS in Journalism and Communications from Quinnipiac University. Monica has worked as a journalist for over 20 years covering all things entertainment. She has covered everything from San Diego Comic-Con, The SAG Awards, Academy Awards, and more. Monica has been published in Variety, Swagger Magazine, Emmy Magazine, CNN, AP, Hidden Remote, and more. For the past 10 years, she has added PR and marketing to her list of talents as the president of Prime Entertainment Publicity, LLC. Monica is ready for anything and is proudly obsessed with pop culture.
