One of the things we love most about thrillers is a protagonist we can’t quite put our finger on. That’s why we’re somewhat obsessed with ITV’s The Suspect, why The Capture has continuously left us perplexed, and why Echoes has recently been the talk of Netflix.

And the best bit is when we finally figure out that the person at the centre of the drama – the one who we have come to know and love – could actually have instigated the events around them. It adds to the jaw-dropping nature of the films and TV shows we adore and a new Netflix film is set to bring our main character trust issues into the limelight in a big way.

Luckiest Girl Alive stars Mila Kunis and is based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name. Written by Jessica Knoll, you’ve likely either read or definitely heard of the mystery novel. It centres on Ani FaNelli, a woman who lives the kind of life many only dream of: she has a high-flying media career, impeccable style and an enviable relationship, but she’s hiding a very dark past.

As well as the trailer for the film having just dropped the other month, it’s safe to say that the internet is brimming with excitement for the release today (Friday 7 October). Here’s everything you need to know about Luckiest Girl Alive. 

The new film explores the life of Ani FaNelli, who will be played by Mila Kunis. According to the synopsis, she is a “sharp-tongued New Yorker who appears to have it all: a sought-after position at a glossy magazine, a killer wardrobe, and a dream Nantucket wedding on the horizon.

“But when the director of a crime documentary invites her to tell her side of the shocking incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Brentley School, Ani is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life.”

Something tells us that if you’re a fan of Gone Girl, this film is one to add to your watchlist immediately. 

Kunis is not only leading the cast of this new Netflix film, she’s also a producer. Mike Barker, who served as a director and executive producer of The Handmaid’s Tale, is directing Luckiest Girl Alive, so you know there will be chills aplenty.

The cast includes Finn Wittrock (Ratched) who stars as Ani’s rich fiancé, while Chiara Aurelia (Cruel Summer) plays the role of young TifAni (how Ani was known as a teenager).

The film also stars Connie Britton (Dirty John), Jennifer Beals (The L Word), Scoot McNairy (Gone Girl), Thomas Barbusca (The Mick), Justine Lupe (Succession), Dalmar Abuzeid (Anne With An E), Alex Barone (Dopesick) and Carson MacCormac (East Of Middle West).   

There certainly is and be prepared to finish watching it with a hell of a lot of questions. We meet Ani as the poised, career-driven, successful woman she sets out to be. She says: “I am this close to the life no one thought I deserved.”

With an impending wedding, her plans could be disrupted with the arrival of a curious documentary maker. He says to her: “There are still so many questions that you haven’t answered. People want to know – were you a hero or an accomplice?

As we get flashbacks of Ani’s previous life, her school experience and the fateful event that changed it all, we’re no closer to figuring out what Ani could be hiding. And the ending sentence in the trailer reveals that Ani could actually be hiding a multitude of secrets after all. She admits: “Sometimes I feel like a wind-up doll. Turn my key and I will tell you exactly what you want to hear.”

Watch the trailer for yourself here: 

Speaking to Netflix Tudum about the new film, author and screenwriter Knoll says: “There was so much of my own story and experience embedded in this character. It was really important to me that I be the one to tell it.”

Knoll also reveals that the dissonance is true to her own experience. She explains: “I was someone who did not present in any way someone who had gone through a really traumatic thing young.”

She continues: “I lived in New York, working at Cosmopolitan magazine, sitting in meetings coming up with cover lines for ‘50 Hands-Free Ways To Give Him Sexual Pleasure’. I was planning my wedding and I was going to all my fittings and I was making appointments to get eyelash extensions, and I wore white jeans and I was bubbly happy.

“To me, there was something very absurd and comical, darkly comical, about the fact that this was the surface of my life and that you would never know by looking at me what was happening beneath the surface, what I had been through, and how fucking angry I was all the time. That’s where the humour comes from.” 

The film is now available to stream on Netflix.

Images: Netflix