The Life List (2025) || Being the Protagonist Doesn't Excuse You

I try hard but fail to understand why a lot of things are glorified. Ranking high in the list of things that boggle my mind would be cheating. I don’t know if it’s a Western thing. I don’t know if I’m the conservative or because I’m an African, and there are some things you don’t just voice out, let alone celebrate.

It’s been a minute since I wrote a movie review or any post at all for that matter, but I’m glad I got to see this film a couple of days ago in between a very tight schedule, so I have something to talk about. So yeah, let’s talk about it today.

The Life List (2025)

Alexandra is the daughter who believes she’s the problem. Constantly badgered on by her family according to her to be better. Her mom hosts a get-together and that night reveals that her terminal condition which had gone is now back and she may not be with her much longer.

Fast forward to when the misfortune happens, and Alex and the rest of the family are seated to hear her Mom’s will. The dashing Lawyer in charge of that, Brad, delivers the content of the will that completely shakes Alex’s world and more or less alters the trajectory of her life. Will she complete the items on the list her Mom left her in time, and gain her inheritance? We will have to see.

My Thoughts and Rating

SPOILER ALERT!!

I will start by saying that I loved the concept of this movie. As far as premises go, this was a beautiful concept. I was SAT and expectant for the magic to occur. It never did, but that’s another story. I like the idea of lists. Even though I’m not the best at keeping to them, I love the idea of getting a message, a reward, something for getting a task done. More or less instils a child-like joy in me.

But yeah, that’s about it with what I loved about this film.
I, for one, hated all the decisions the protagonist made. Sofia Carson’s character was completely unlikeable. I couldn’t bring myself to like her if I tried. The only thing in the whole role that did it for me was her face. She is a gorgeous woman, so that softened the entire excruciating experience. Not so much anyway, but commendably.

This entire rant review is dedicated to the protagonist and the story in itself. It poses the question I started with. Why is cheating so glorified? From the mother, Elizabeth, who has the temerity to cheat on her husband. Same man still raised the child from her infidelity like his own daughter, and he was made a bad person, while she was painted as the victim of sorts. Talk about, “When your Dad left us...” Miss Ma’am, you did a horrible thing to him. And he didn't even leave then.

The protagonist was incredibly self-centred and showed not a lick of emotion when it was needed. She was self-absorbed from hating on the one man who she should have loved like no other – her father, to not being kind enough to Garret, who by the way, she had a forced romance with. Trust me, their romance didn’t need to happen. At all. And instead of slowly easing him into her world and her friends, she picked offense at his observations. Even her romance with Brad felt forced. It was all so wrong.

And then again, the cheating. You knowingly and wilfully slept with a man you knew had a girlfriend and your biggest issue was why he didn’t tell you that they had broken up? There’s just something fundamentally wrong with that logic, honestly. The fact that she and Brad (the other cheater) ended up together is enough karmic justice for me. The two cheaters deserve each other.

Even the Mom’s videos were weird. Why did she side line her two other children like that? Didn’t they deserve knowing that their mother also cared about them? It almost looked as if she didn't love them. So weird, and frankly, sad.

The Life List frustrated me a lot. The dialogue was terrible and painfully bland, and everything was predictable. But my biggest ick was the protagonist and why cheating is now becoming a norm, so that’s about it. The rating I’m seeing on this movie from IMDB is such a joke. Let’s be so for real, please. Anyway, a 4.5/10 from me. Should be less, but I don’t know. Maybe cause of my wasted data?

Jhymi🖤

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_{Images from IMDB.}

Posted using CineTV