An emotional journey with the right ingredients but the wrong recipe.
Netflix’s latest original, The Life List, sets up a premise ripe for emotional growth, romance, and rediscovery—but the execution leaves much to be desired. What could have been a touching tale of self-reinvention quickly becomes a tedious blend of romantic clichés and undercooked family drama.
Starring Sofia Carson as the aimless Alex, the film follows a thirty-something woman tasked with completing her teenage bucket list in order to claim her late mother’s inheritance. On paper, it’s an uplifting coming-of-age tale—albeit a belated one. In practice, however, it’s a plodding two-hour affair that tries to juggle too many plotlines without giving any of them the space to resonate.
Alex’s life is in neutral: unemployed as a teacher, stuck in a marketing job at her mother’s cosmetics company, and living in a lackluster New York apartment with her lazy boyfriend, Finn. Her world is jolted by the passing of her mother, Elizabeth (played by Connie Britton), who leaves behind a DVD with one final request—Alex must complete 12 goals from a list she wrote at age 13. The items range from whimsical to emotionally demanding: read Moby Dick, play classical piano, fall in love.
Unfortunately, despite its heartfelt setup, the film often tells more than it shows. Much of Alex’s transformation is surface-level, lacking the emotional depth needed to make her journey feel earned. Her romantic entanglements, particularly the love triangle involving charming attorney Brad (Kyle Allen) and suave newcomer Garrett (Sebastian De Souza), are predictable and devoid of genuine tension. Supporting characters—including her best friend Megan and brothers Julian and Lucas—are reduced to flat archetypes, offering little more than exposition or unnecessary drama.
Carson does her best with the material she’s given, imbuing Alex with moments of sincerity and wit. Her chemistry with Allen provides brief flashes of warmth, and some visual moments—like a dreamlike mother-daughter flashback—strike a poignant chord. But the film’s inability to commit to a single tone or streamline its storytelling prevents those moments from having a lasting impact.
Adapted from Lori Nelson Spielman’s novel, The Life List struggles with pacing and purpose. Director Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe) fails to prioritize the emotional beats that matter, instead diverting focus with unnecessary plot threads, including a drawn-out family secret and side characters whose motivations shift without warning.
In the end, Alex does check off the goals on her list—but the personal growth they’re meant to represent feels unearned. The movie wants to inspire its viewers to live boldly and dream big, but it settles for formulaic storytelling and Hallmark-level sentimentality.
Verdict : The Life List has a heartfelt premise and moments of visual charm, but it stumbles through a bloated runtime filled with flat characters and predictable turns. Instead of evoking tears or cheers, it leaves us with a shrug.
