You’ve heard of a bucket list — now meet The Life List.
Netflix‘s new rom-com stars Purple Hearts’ Sofia Carson as Alex Rose, a New Yorker whose life is thrown into disarray following the death of her mother, Elizabeth (Connie Britton). To receive her inheritance, she must complete all the items on a “life list” she wrote at age 13. The journey sends Alex on a path littered with hardship, broken hearts, and new opportunities.
The dramedy, written and directed by Adam Brooks (Definitely, Maybe; Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason), is now streaming on Netflix. Read on as we unpack its heart-swelling story, ending, and what it’s all trying to say.
Sofia Carson as Alex in ‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
Based on Lori Nelson Spielman’s 2013 novel, The Life List follows Alex in the aftermath of her mother Elizabeth’s death. Her grief is amplified when she goes to the reading of Elizabeth’s will, only to discover that it dictates she be fired from her mother’s cosmetics company.
What’s more, Alex won’t receive her inheritance until she goes on an unconventional journey that Elizabeth dreamt up. It requires that Alex check off everything on a childhood bucket list — sorry, life list — that she wrote when she was just 13. Some goals include camping under a full moon, performing stand-up comedy, and “making peace, not war” with her estranged father. The last — and trickiest — is to “find true love.”
Like a rom-com Jigsaw, Elizabeth leaves behind a series of DVDs with video messages for Alex to watch along the way. “This list is such a reflection of who you are,” she says in the first message, adding that Alex must complete tasks by the end of the year.
‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
That’s a complicated question.
Alex finishes most of the list, including bombing at stand-up, getting a bloody nose in a mosh pit, and playing “Claire de Lune” at a piano recital. She also finds purpose working as a substitute teacher for underprivileged youth, fulfilling her life list goal of “being a great teacher.”
But the list is more than just a series of tasks. It also finds her breaking up with her current boyfriend, romancing (and eventually splitting from) a new fling named Garrett (Sebastian de Souza), and reconnecting with both her biological father, Johnny (Jordi Mollà), and the man who helped raise her, Samuel (José Zúñiga).
Kyle Allen as Brad and Sofia Carson as Alex in ‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
She also finds a new friend, Brad (Kyle Allen), the (young and handsome) executor of her mother’s estate. Though their relationship is initially fraught, she softens towards him as the film routinely finds reasons to bring them back together.
What she doesn’t do is find true love, so technically she didn’t finish the list — or did she?
Connie Britton as Elizabeth in ‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
Despite her romantic misadventures, Alex receives her inheritance, with the estate lawyer saying that Elizabeth never really expected her to find true love with “a ticking clock.”
What is her inheritance? It’s their family home. This is especially meaningful to Alex, as she was the only one among her surviving relatives who wanted to keep it. “The house is Mom. It’s our history,” she says to her skeptical family during the will reading. Later, Alex says that all she wanted after her mother’s passing was to lie in Elizabeth’s “old, rickety iron bed… and pretend that she was still with me.”
But it’s more than just the house, of course. Alex’s journey through her childhood life list helped her rediscover what truly matters to her in adulthood.
‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
The meaning of The Life List can be found in Elizabeth’s recorded messages.
In the first one, she tells Alex that she set up this journey for her because she worries Alex has lost touch with her childhood dreams. Speaking about the goals on the life list, Elizabeth says, “I don’t know if you ever replaced this with anything. I wonder if you’ve given up your dreams and aspirations and goals.” She let Alex go from her “cozy” job at the company, she explains, because it “allowed you to run away from who you really are.”
She continues, “You have to get yourself out of this hole that you’re in. I’m not going to be around to dig you out, but I can sure as hell leave you a shovel.”
Though Alex is upset at the time, she comes to understand the value of reconnecting with her old dreams, and the hard life lessons when they don’t work out as she’d hoped.
‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
In her final DVD, Elizabeth says, “I want to say that being your mom has been the joy of my life and now you’re in a new beginning and I will not be haunting you anymore. No more lists and ultimatums. Maybe just one more thing: Life is beautiful and messy and complicated and sometimes it doesn’t look the way you think it’s supposed to look. And that is okay. Keep going and always be brave.”
Carson touched on the film’s meaning in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I think so many of us, including myself, tend to forget the little girl that was a fearless dreamer,” she said. “This movie took me back to her in so many ways. I left that set a different Sofia that I think little Sofia would be so deeply proud of. I’ve been writing my own ‘life list’ recently, and it was beautiful to see a few of the things that I dreamt of have come true.”
Sofia Carson as Alex and Kyle Allen as Brad in ‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
Alex begins The Life List dating Finn (Michael Rowland), a well-meaning but oblivious guy. After they break up, she begins dating Garrett, who helps her grow but ultimately isn’t right for her. As such, she believes she failed the “find true love” part of her childhood life list.
But Elizabeth says something in her last DVD message that makes Alex reconsider. “As for true love, I’ll admit I never really figured that one out,” her mother says. “But I do know this: Love is worth fighting for. Understood?”
Those words trigger something in Alex — and remind her of the “true love test” her mother had devised. It consists of four questions:
- Is he kind?
- Can I tell him everything in my heart?
- Does he help me become the best version of myself?
- Can you imagine him as the father of your children?
Her true love, she realizes, is Brad, and the film ends with her driving to his house in the night and professing her love, which he reciprocates.
Kyle Allen as Brad in ‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
It seems that the four true love questions resonated with test audiences. “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,'” Carson told EW.
It makes sense to Brooks. “These are challenging moments, especially for people of Alex’s age. She’s almost 30 and urgently feels the need to redefine who she is in relation to love and work and family.”
As we learn in the closing scene, Alex’s ex-boyfriend Finn went with American Zombie: Blood Apocalypse. Good choice.
Sofia Carson as Alex and Kyle Allen as Brad in ‘The Life List’. Nicole Rivelli/Netflix
The Life List is currently streaming on Netflix.
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