Netflix: After her mother's death, Alex is compelled to complete her childhood bucket list in order to claim her inheritance.

Release date March 28, 2025

The MPAA rated The Life List PG-13 for sexual material, drug content and strong language

Run Time: 123 minutes

Youngest daughter Alex (Sofia Carson) is considered the screw up of the Rose family. Although she’s incredibly close to her mother (Connie Britton), Alex feels alienated from her siblings who can’t stop asking her why she quit teaching, why her boyfriend dropped out of college, and why she doesn’t have any direction in her life. When their mom passes away, everyone is surprised to learn that Alex’s inheritance has been withheld. Before she can claim the money, Alex must complete a list of life goals she made when she was thirteen and view a stack of DVDs her mother recorded. As Alex makes her way through the list, she starts to explore who she is and what she wants, leading her on a path of self-discovery she couldn’t have imagined.

Feeling directionless as a young adult is something that a lot of people, including myself, can understand. I deeply related to Alex, not necessarily for her life circumstances, but for her feelings around trying to find herself and the life she wants without knowing how to go about it. This film made me cry multiple times (and gave me some good talking points for my next therapy session).

Although I enjoyed this movie on a personal level, I must acknowledge that it has a lot of flaws. As much as Netflix keeps trying to push her onto the viewing public, Sofia Carson simply does not have the acting chops needed for a role like this, which takes away some of the power the Alex character could have had. The movie is also entirely too long. The second act spins its wheels a lot and there’s a subplot around Alex’s dad that takes up a lot of time and could have been cut out with very little effect on the overall story.

Editing and acting issues aside, there are enough negative content concerns to make this film unsuitable for family audiences. Potential viewers who are sensitive to language will want to avoid the 40 profanities, those who object to substance use won’t be thrilled with intoxication or marijuana use, and viewers who don’t like sexual content will want to skip the sexual discussion. But if the plot of the film intrigues you and you aren’t concerned with these levels of negative content, I do recommend The Life List overall. It’s not a perfect movie, but it made me feel something, and that’s all I can ask for in this job.

Directed by Adam Brooks. Starring Sofia Carson, Kyle Allen, Sebastian De Souza. Running time: 123 minutes. Theatrical release March 28, 2025. Updated March 28, 2025

The Life List is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sexual material, drug content and strong language

Violence: None.
Sexual Content: A man is accidentally seen naked by some children, though the audience doesn’t see any explicit nudity. Adult couples kiss. Some sexual innuendo and discussion. A couple kiss and start to undress. They are shown lying in bed together with no nudity.
Profanity:   The script contains a sexual expletive, a crude hand gesture, 19 mild and moderate expletives and 19 terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: Adults drink socially in some scenes. Two characters are portrayed as drunk. Adults consume marijuana gummies and smoke weed. (Note that marijuana is legal for recreational use in New York, where the film takes place.)

Page last updated March 28, 2025