Whether from the trailer or the very first scene, Netflix’s new series I Am Not Okay With This does try to hide what it is. “Dear diary,” says our high school “hero,” Sydney, as she narrates from her diary while walking down an empty street covered in a blood-stained prom dress. “Go fuck yourself … I’m a boring 29 – year-old white girl. What I mean is, I’m not special. ”
Naturally, that’s not quite true, as this seven-episode first season gradually makes clear. Not quite as dark as Carrie (blood aside), not quite as light-hearted as Stranger Things (a comparison that makes sense quickly), I Am Not Okay With This sits squarely somewhere in the middle of the teen-ekenisis spectrum. And whether or not this particular incarnation works for you may largely depend on your appetite for these types of stories in general.
Sydney (Sophia Lillis) is dealing with something she’s not sure how to articulate or control — and we’re not talking about her self-loathing or anger, because she gets better at expressing those things.
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Syd’s neighbor, Stan (Wyatt Oleff), gradually becomes someone our main character can confide in.
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Stan’s kind of a thrift-store, David-Byrne, becoming-comfy-in-my-odd-shoes type that would’ve definitely gained Oleff a footprint in ‘ s teen magazines.
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Other major players include Syd’s best friend and fellow-new-to-town girl, Dina (left, Sofia Bryant), and her jocky new boyfriend, Brad (Richard Ellis).
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The rest of Syd’s family includes positive younger bro Liam (Aidan Wojtak-Hissong) and overworked, under expressed Mom (Kathleen Rose Perkins)
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