NOT OKAY
A brilliant social-media satire with excessive content.
Should You Watch It?
NOT OKAY is exceptionally well-made. Its satire of social-media obsession, vanity, trash pop culture, vaping, and self-absorption is sharp and often hilarious. Zoey Deutch gives a remarkable performance as Danni, shifting convincingly between comedy and seriousness. The screenplay and direction eventually turn the laughs into a serious lesson about honesty and consequences.
But the film’s entertainment strengths do not overcome its content. The source reports about 30 F words in the prose review and 44 obscenities in the Content Guide, along with a sex scene, substance abuse, homosexual references, and a politically correct antigun message. Its moral lesson is valuable, but the way it delivers that lesson is not suitable for family viewing.
If you want a thoughtful satire of online deception and narcissism, you may understand its appeal. For your family’s viewing, however, the practical answer is clear: skip it.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESDanni Sanders is a vain photo editor at the pop-culture magazine “Depravity.” Hoping to gain attention at work and online, she invents an extravagant Paris vacation using manipulated images.
When terrorist attacks strike Paris, Danni realizes her lie has become much more serious. She continues inventing stories about the event and eventually draws a traumatized high school girl into her scheme. Meanwhile, a colleague begins investigating whether Danni ever went to Paris.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is an outstanding piece of filmmaking despite its serious content problems. NOT OKAY is a wise, brilliant satire that takes a bold stand against the youth culture promoted by much of the media.
The answers to its central questions are inventive and funny at first. Writer-director Quinn Shepherd then shifts the tone in a surprising, serious direction. The screenplay and direction are both called brilliant in the source review, and Zoey Deutch’s performance is described as one of the sharpest acting turns in many years. The film also handles its rally and school-shooting discussions with humanity rather than heavy-handedness.
The Worldview
NOT OKAY strongly condemns narcissism, vanity, lying, and the desire for social-media fame. Danni’s self-absorption leaves her without care or concern for others, but the story eventually teaches that dishonesty brings consequences. It also presents apology and making amends as important, even when forgiveness is not immediately offered.
The film’s moral center aligns with a biblical emphasis on truthfulness, humility, and accountability. Its politically correct antigun subplot, however, gives the story a message that the source review views as ideologically objectionable. The film’s worldview is strongest when it exposes the emptiness of fame built on deception, and weakest when its cultural conclusions replace a fuller moral framework.
Scripture warns, “Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out” (Proverbs 10:9). That truth speaks directly to Danni’s desperate attempt to build a life on lies.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral worldview satirizes young people’s narcissistic obsession with self and social media and then takes a surprise serious turn that teaches a lesson about the importance of honesty and consequences for the main girl’s rampant deceit, lead female wants to apologize for her wrongs even though no one wants to hear it, there’s a strong message against lying and vanity/pride, and movie also satirizes self-important young people in daring and hilarious fashion, but there’s a politically correct antigun subplot and lead character works at a place where other workers identify as homosexual, but they are shown to be overly mean and vapid, especially when she confesses to lying
Foul Language
44 obscenities (mostly “f” words), one Jesus profanity and seven light God profanities
Violence
Firecrackers go off to disrupt an antigun rally, traumatizing the main girl speakers who runs away crying in dismay, woman slaps a man, and some threats of violence, plus occasional brief news footage of a terrorist attack aftermath
Sex
A fully clothed heterosexual couple is shown having torrid sex while standing up in a public bathroom (the woman later callously ignores the guy), and overt homosexual references
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
Alcohol use and drunkenness
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
A young man constantly vapes in the multiple scenes, the vaping is shown satirically as an obnoxious habit and isn’t glamorized, the young man promotes marijuana use, marijuana use occurs, and lead character mixes a prescription pill with alcohol in one scene
Miscellaneous Immorality
An extremely vain young woman is self-obsessed to the point of lacking any care or concern for others (although this ultimately changes, making a powerful final lesson), woman lies about being in Paris on vacation to achieve social media stardom and then is forced to lie much more when a terrorist act hits that city and family and friends are concerned about her, woman lies to achieve and maintain fame and exploits an antigun activist and becomes very close to the activist and winds up getting on national TV with her at a rally, woman learns her lesson and wants to apologize and make amends with people but finds herself still vilified and eventually finds that the main girl she exploited won’t ever give her the chance to make peace.
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
What does Danni’s hunger for attention reveal about the difference between being known online and being known truly?
Psalm 139:1–4 · Galatians 1:10Why do lies often require more lies to protect them? What does Scripture say about walking in truth?
Proverbs 12:22 · Ephesians 4:25Danni wants to apologize, but the people she harmed do not immediately welcome her back. What does genuine repentance require beyond saying “I’m sorry”?
2 Corinthians 7:10 · Luke 19:8How can grief and another person’s suffering be exploited for personal attention? How does love respond differently?
Philippians 2:3–4 · 1 Corinthians 13:4–7The Final Word
NOT OKAY is a brilliant, sharply acted satire about social-media vanity, dishonesty, and consequences. Its moral lessons are real, but its strong profanity, sexual content, substance abuse, homosexual references, and antigun message make it unsuitable for family viewing. Our answer is SKIP IT. For better options, see.
