Hulu Original Film ‘Not Okay’ Given Trigger Warning For “Unlikeable Female Protagonist”

Source: Not Okay (2022), Searchlight Pictures

In Hollywood’s latest attempt to pander to increasingly coddled audiences, Hulu has taken the concept of trigger warnings to a new level, adding a disclaimer to their recent original film Not Okay notifying viewers that its story contains an “unlikeable female protagonist”.

Written and directed by Quinn Shepard (Blame), Not Okay centers on Danni Sanders (Zoey Deutch), a young woman who in an attempt to gain popularity and romantic attention falsely claims that she will soon be embarking on an extended trip to Paris, keeping up the ruse by photoshopping herself into various landmark photos all the while sitting at home in New York.

Unfortunately for Dani, her deception soon begins to unravel when, just moments after sharing a doctored image of herself standing at the Arc de Triomphe, a terrorist group launches a number of Parisan monuments – including the memorial arch.

Forced between admitting to her lies or rolling with her newfound role as the supposed survivor of a deadly terrorist attack, Dani chooses the latter, proceeding to present herself as a traumatized victim in order to milk her story for fame and glory.

In doing so, she eventually sparks a friendship with anti-gun activist Rowan Alden (Mia Isaac), who dedicated herself to her cause after her sister was killed in a shooting at their school when they were younger.

Eventually, after both realizing that Rowan was a more genuine person than her and being threatened with having her falsehoods exposed, Dani comes clean, admitting to the world that at no point in recent months had she ever left the safety of her apartment.

Unsurprisingly, this admission leads to a wave of backlash against Dani, and the film ends with her losing her job, deactivating all of her social media accounts, and becoming a social outcast.

In an epilogue shown at the end of the film set one month after its climax, Dani is seen attending one of Rowan’s speaking engagements in the hopes of making amends.

However, after hearing not only how her former friend’s entire speech is centered around condemning her but also the thunderous applause it receives, Dani realizes that apologizing would serve no one but herself.

Ultimately, Dani decides to refrain from speaking to Rowan, ending the film by choosing to walk away from the crowd and leave her undisturbed.

Given the less-than-savory actions displayed by Dani throughout her story, a unique “content warning” was added to the film ahead of its July 29th release to the Disney-owned streaming service.

Therein, viewers are cautioned that in addition to “flashing lights” and “themes of trauma”, the film also contains an “unlikeable female protagonist”.

Not Okay is now available for streaming on Hulu.

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