Movie Review - The Life List

Have you ever had to do a list of activities your mom assigned to you to get your inheritance?

Alex Rose is truly all of us. The Life List, based on a novel by Lori Nelson Spielman, is about a girl stuck in this rabbit hole.

We get to see Sofia Carson in another romance-type role, but this one feels a little different. We’ve seen Carson in roles like Purple Hearts (2022) and Feel the Beat (2020). Carson poured herself into the role of Alex Rose, a young woman who’s stuck in this rabbit hole she doesn’t know how to get out of.

She’s no longer a teacher, which, to her, was her dream job. She works at her mom’s company, thinking everything is fine. That’s until the person closest to her, her mom, dies. But what happens when your mom sends you on a quest to complete the bucket list you made when you were 13 just to get your inheritance? I bet you, Alex Rose, are thinking the same thing.

Alex had a choice: complete each item on the list to get a new DVD from her lawyer or her mom until she completed it or risk not finding out what her mom left for her. Her mom seemingly wanted her to live her life, which included things like getting a tattoo, going to a mosh pit, etc.

This task felt extra draining to Alex and something she didn’t want to do. Especially reading Moby Dick. But mothers know best, right? There’s a reason for everything our mothers do, and Alex’s mother is no different. With reading Moby Dick, she meets Garrett, a guy who works at the place she’s starting as a teacher. She and Garrett start dating, too. But with every relationship, there’s always ups and downs. Unfortunately for Alex, there seem to be more downs than ups. Garrett almost seems like he wants what’s best for everyone, but in the relationship, he seems kinda self-focused.

We go through a little hole in the sense that Alex finds out she doesn’t share the same dad as her siblings, which seems to send her through this mess of not feeling like she belongs. There is constant talk about the relationship with her dad that never seems to be there. They struggle to connect. But then it’s put together as we find out her dad isn’t actually her dad. So, if you were Alex, what would you do? If you said hunt him down, you are 100% right.

Unfortunately for Alex, that seems to be going nowhere. But luckily for her, her lawyer somehow becomes her best friend. The person who’s there for her through each DVD and through the downs that come with the relationship with her dad and her long lost biological dad.

Through this process with Bradley, she learns a lot about herself and the value of friendship. Bradley eventually ends up finding her real dad, too. So exciting, right? You’d definitely be wrong. Garrett, who was originally supposed to go with her, ends up being Bradley and his girlfriend, who eventually up and leaves. Not thinking much about it, Alex and Bradley go to see where her biological dad’s band is playing. She learns a lot about him and why he never reached out. She also learns that her relationship with her dad was not always as bad as she thought it was because her biological dad told her a story of when he was going to visit and how sweet her dad was with her. She almost didn’t believe it.

The next day, she’s supposed to meet with him again, but he never shows. This truly left me heartbroken. It’s like that sense of making promises you can’t keep, but at the same time, there was also that feeling he wouldn’t show.

There’s a scene in between this with Bradley and Alex that truly made me go, whoa, but I honestly wasn’t surprised. This odd chemistry between them throughout the movie makes them feel like they are more than just friends. Unfortunately, this ruins their friendship a bit because Alex shuts him down.

So life moves on, right? Alex goes back to teaching, lives her life, and tries to finish her list before New Year’s. However, that doesn’t happen. Alex goes to meet with her lawyer, but it ends up not being Bradley but his boss, as he was promoted. But she still gets her inheritance along with one last DVD. This is because one item on that list was to find her true love. In the video, her mom talks about how finding true love is hard and you can’t rush it. She also learns about her inheritance, which is honestly a shock and heartwarming.

After the video, she realizes what she wants and drives even though she can’t drive. She ends up hitting Bradley’s car and confesses how she feels to him. It’s kind of cute but funny simultaneously because she literally hit his car to find him.

I think things end on a high note with this as it feels very romantic but also not at the same time. It’s truly a cute, feel-good movie that, if you want to relax and enjoy something sweet, this movie is.

Rating: 9/10