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Not Okay is an American satirical black comedy drama film written and directed by Quinn Shephard. It stars Zoey Deutch as a young woman who desperately wants to be famous and beloved on the Internet, only for her efforts to lead to her mistakenly gaining fame as a survivor of a tragedy. It was released on July 29, 2022 on Hulu in the United States, and Disney+ in other countries.
Plot
Danni Sanders is an aspiring writer who works as a photo editor for Depravity, an online magazine in New York City. Struggling with both her job and making friends, Danni lies about attending an upcoming retreat in Paris to impress her co-worker Colin, a social media influencer. Danni spends the next week posting photoshopped pictures of herself in Paris from her Brooklyn apartment. She gains a modest following on Instagram as a result, which includes Colin. A few days later, Danni posts a doctored photo of herself by the Arc de Triomphe only minutes before several major Parisian landmarks are bombed by terrorists. To uphold her lie, Danni fakes returning from Paris, joining up with her parents at the airport.
With her parents, co-workers, and online following mistakenly believing she was a survivor of the terrorist attacks, Danni immediately garners widespread attention. Initially wanting to come clean, Danni ultimately chooses to lean into the lie. After attending a trauma support group, she meets and befriends anti-gun activist Rowan Aldren, a school shooting survivor who also has a large social media following. Danni writes a fraudulent article about her "experience" of being in a terrorist attack. This article, which includes the hashtag #IAmNotOkay, goes viral and propels Danni to immediate fame. Danni also grows closer to Rowan, becoming a sisterly figure to her. During a night out with Colin, they have a brief but unpleasant sexual encounter, which makes Danni realize the life of fame she wanted is not as desirable as simply being a good person.
Danni is invited to speak at a rally with Rowan. When counter-protestors set off fireworks, Rowan suffers a panic attack and is hospitalized. Danni, who has been having recurring hallucinations of the Paris bomber, has a hard time being able to support Rowan. Meanwhile, a skeptical co-worker of Danni's named Harper uncovers her deception and gives Danni an ultimatum: either Danni comes clean on her own terms, or Harper will announce the fraud to the world. Ultimately, Danni decides to publish an article detailing the truth and accept the consequences of her lie. This derails her life quickly; she becomes an online pariah, is fired from her job, disowned by Rowan, forced to move in with her parents, gets death threats and deactivates all of her social media accounts.
A month later, Danni is attending a new support group for individuals who are victims of online shaming, where she is encouraged to make amends with those she hurt. Danni attends a spoken word event where Rowan is speaking out against Danni and her actions, and the speech impresses her while earning cheers from the crowd. Upon realizing that amends would be for her own benefit rather than for Rowan's, Danni quietly exits the theater.
