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While we typically expect to see a romantic comedy and want to immediately fall in love or bask in having our own personal love story, the latest of Netflix’s 2025 releases, The Life List, is apparently prone to have its viewers rethinking their relationships and life overall. So proceed with caution next time you use your Netflix subscription…maybe…because this film led some to break up with their partners.
After Sofia Carson emotionally wrecked us with Purple Hearts and was in the second most popular Netflix movie ever, Carry-On, she stars in The Life List. The new film is about a woman who’s dealing with the death of her mother (played by Connie Britton). Following her passing, Carson’s character, Alex, learns that her mom has decided to hold her inheritance until she achieves everything on the “life list” she created for herself at 13.
This causes Alex to reassess and really work on her life, and it sounds like it inspired audiences to do the same, as Carson said:
[Writer/director Adam Brooks] would call me all the time after test screenings, and he would say that there were so many people that would [tell him], ‘I ended up breaking up with my boyfriend,’ or ‘I ended up changing or quitting my job.’
When Carson spoke to Entertainment Weekly about The Life List, she shared the interesting effect the movie had on early viewers who started raising “all these existential questions” for themselves after seeing the new project. As Carson continued:
That’s the beauty of this film. It’s so much more than a rom-com.
If you’ve seen the movie, it’s not hard to understand why breakups happened in real life, and why that’s honestly kind of beautiful. And check out some of these reactions on Twitter:
- “The Life List on Netflix just raised my standards. 100/10 movie it’s so good and eye opening!! oh Sofia Carson is that girl ahhhhhh.😭😭😭” – @icy_gwen4bella
- “I cried 7 times while watching ‘the life list’ this movie made me think about my future, even how I want to pick out my future partner and especially the bad relationship with my mother I love this movie so much, gonna obsess over it forever. 💗” – @tsweviee
- “#TheLifeList IS the best movie of Sofia’s career. her acting is MAGICAL. the emotions, the deep places it brings us but making us reflect on our lives and try to become our best versions. I want someone who the answer is “yes” to the 4 questions. I need to hug my mom tight.” @luvhsdid
- “I just finished the life list movie and it was so good, it makes me want to do some motivation in my life” – @irerr24
While Alex’s life list includes fun things like trying standup, getting a tattoo and camping under a full moon, it also takes her to some deep places like making peace with her dad and the last entry on the list: “find true love.” As Alex goes through the list, there’s a list of questions that her friend tells her will help her find Mr. Right that leads her to question her own current relationship. Those questions are:
- Can I tell him everything in my heart?
- Does he help me become the best version of myself?
- And can you imagine him as the father of your kids?
This is such a great list to compare against your relationship. No wonder there were people breaking up with their partners or quitting their jobs! They were likely taking a big step toward living their best lives.
You can check out what critics are saying about The Life List before you watch. Will Carson’s latest movie become another one of Netflix’s most popular original movies? Given its life-changing plotline, it just might!
