The newest movie to drop on Hulu is the Zoey Deutch-led black comedy, Not Okay. Also starring Dylan O’Brien, the movie tells the story of Danni Sanders, played by Deutch, who fakes a trip to Paris to impress one of her co-workers, Colin, played by O’Brien.
Unfortunately, the fake trip does not go to plan when one of the areas she “visits” in Paris is the victim of a terrorist attack. Rather than admitting the lie, Danni poses as one of the victims of the attack, and after social media traction, she amasses fame. Danni then needs to decide whether her fame is worth the lie and whether she should come clean.
Deutch and O’Brien were recently interviewed to promote Not Okay, where the popular film-centric social media Letterboxd asked what movies they watched when they weren’t okay. So let’s take a look at which movies they listed, what they’re about and if there are any surprising connections between the actors and the movies they picked.
10 Things I Hate About You
One of Deutch’s picks on the list, 10 Things I Hate About You starred the late Heath Ledger alongside Julia Stiles. The film was directed by Gil Junger and it was released in 1999. The movie is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. It’s about a boy named Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), who arrives at a new school and falls in love with Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), one of the popular girls.
Bianca informs Cameron that her father has a rule for when she can date, that her older sister Kat (Stiles) will have to date first. Unfortunately for Cameron, Kat is shrewish so he pays the local bad boy, Patrick (Ledger) to win her affection. The film is a light-hearted comedy in which all three main cast members, Ledger, Stiles, and Gordon-Levitt, really shine.
Liar Liar
The comedy Liar Liar starring Jim Carrey, which was on Dylan O’Brien’s list, released in 1997. Liar Liar was directed by Tom Shadyac and also starred Maura Tierney, Cary Elwes, and Jennifer Tilly. The film followed a lawyer named Fletcher Reede (Carrey) who was a compulsive liar and always missed engagements with his family. After missing his son’s birthday party, his son makes a wish so his father can never lie again.
Fletcher’s life is undone by the wish, as he can not tell any falsehoods, whether it be a flat-out lie or just a simple withholding of truths. This of course causes havoc in his personal life as well as his professional life. Funnily enough, Carrey would go on to play a similar role in Yes Man later in his career.
Back to the Future
Another Dylan O’Brien pick is the classic 1985 film, Back to the Future. This one is interesting because Zoey Deutch has a connection to it, as her mother, Lea Thompson, played one of the main characters — Marty’s mom, Lorraine. The film starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a teenaged slacker who befriends a local scientist, Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd.
Doc Brown builds a time machine – in a Delorean – and after a group of Libyans kill him after he fails to deliver a bomb, his protege Marty is accidentally transported thirty years into the past. Unintentionally throwing the course of his life off track by meeting his parents, Marty must set up his parents so they fall in love, and with the help of a younger Doc Brown, get back to the future.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
One of Zoey Deutch’s picks which she calls “a perfect movie” is the 2004 comedy, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The movie was the directorial debut of Adam McKay and starred Will Ferrell as the titular news anchor, Ron Burgundy. The movie follows the news team of a fictional local television station, led by Burgundy, as Veronica Corningstone (played by Christina Applegate) is promoted to co-anchor.
This causes strife among the other team members, notably Burgundy who began a relationship with Corningstone before her promotion. The movie is arguably Will Ferrell’s most famous movie and is known for the comedic interplay between Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, and David Koechner.
School of Rock
Dylan O’Brien’s third pick is the classic Jack Black comedy, School of Rock. School of Rock was directed by Richard Linklater, and it was released in 2003. The movie follows Dewey Finn (Black) as a washed-out musician slacker who poses as a substitute teacher. After he sees that the students have musical talent, he works with them to compete in the Battle of the Bands.
The film also stars Joan Cusack as the principal of the school, Mike White, and Sarah Silverman. As the kids develop their rock skills, Dewey of course gets uncovered for impersonating his roommate (White), but still manages to rock out with the class for a last showstopping performance.
Never Been Kissed
Another Dylan O’Brien pick is the romantic comedy Never Been Kissed, starring Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Michael Vartan, Leelee Sobieski, and Molly Shannon. The movie was released in 1999 and was directed by Raja Gosnell. The movie saw Josie Geller (Drew Barrymore), a 25-year-old, go back to high school for a report for her newspaper. Unfortunately, Josie falls back into her geeky self that she was when she went to high school and doesn’t have the best time.
Josie – who has never been in a relationship – falls in love with the English teacher Sam Coulson (Vartan), and he worries that she is getting too close to him because she is a student. Josie gets her brother Rob (Arquette) to join her undercover ploy to infiltrate the popular group, but it doesn’t quite work and she reveals her true identity, leading to the classic romantic comedy happy ending.
Toy Story
Dylan O’Brien’s last pick is the animated Tom Hanks and Tim Allen classic, Toy Story. Toy Story was released in 1995 and featured the directorial debut of John Lasseter. Toy Story told the story of Sheriff Woody and his friends, a group of toys who would come alive whenever people were not in the room. When his owner Andy gets a new toy for his birthday, space ranger Buzz Lightyear (Allen), Woody becomes jealous that Andy has a new favorite toy.
Buzz and Woody get in a fight while the pair are traveling with Andy and they become separated from him. The two toys learn to put aside their differences to make it back home before Andy moves and they’re lost forever. Toy Story has the honor of being both the first feature film from Pixar and the first feature film to be completely computer-animated.
Finding Nemo
Zoe Deutch’s last pick is another animated Pixar film, this time the other Pixar classic Finding Nemo. Finding Nemo was released in 2003 and was directed by Andrew Stanton. The film starred Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, and Alexander Gould. Finding Nemo followed Marlin (Brooks), a clownfish who lost his wife and all of his children bar one to a predator. Marlin was then overprotective of the child named Nemo (Alexander Gould), who also has a damaged fin.
One day when Nemo goes off to school he swims too far from the group and gets lost, swept up by a boat’s propeller. Marlin then sets out on an adventure across the ocean to find his son. Joined by Dory (DeGeneres), a fish with memory loss, he encounters many different fish and has a close encounter with some sharks, until he eventually locates Nemo and manages to bring him back home.
Everyone has their comfort films — films that they watch when they’re sick, sad, or simply not okay. This list is a great list of films that are surely on some people’s lists, and if not maybe try Back to the Future or Finding Nemo the next time you’re not okay. You won’t regret it.
Not Okay is currently streaming on Hulu and Disney Plus internationally.
