Fans are more than okay with new Netflix series

Alice Webster, Student editor

Netflix is no stranger to making hit TV shows about people with superpowers: The Umbrella Academy, Stranger Things, and their multiple Marvel shows have all garnered praise from critics and audiences alike. Now they’re adding another superhero story to their roster. I Am Not Okay with This follows Sydney Novak, played by Sophia Lillis of It: Chapter One fame, a teenager who has recently lost her father to suicide and discovers she has telekenisis, as she navigates her high school and family life. The show is based on the graphic novels of the same name by Charles Forsman, whose work also inspired the Netflix show The End of the F**king World.

Over the course of seven half hour episodes, Sydney struggles to come to terms with her father’s death, her best friend getting a jerky boyfriend, and gaining superpowers which she can’t control. Helping her is her new friend Stanley, played by Lillis’s fellow It: Chapter One star Wyatt Oleff, a goofy and loveable stoner with an unrequited crush on her. Their friendship is the heartwarming core of the show.

Along with discovering her superpowers, Sydney is forced to come to terms with her feelings for her best friend Dina, played by Sophia Bryant. Sydney’s struggle with her emotions towards Dina and her jock boyfriend Brad, played by Richard Ellis, proves difficult for her to deal with and causes difficulty in controlling her powers. Also trying for Sydney is her relationship with her mother, played by Kathleen Rose Perkins, who is almost always working and leaving Sydney to take care of her little brother Liam, played by Aidan Wojtak-Hissong. 

The show is executed masterfully from the writing to the performances to the soundtrack and gives one of the most realistic portrayals of high school in television despite its supernatural elements. Instead of relying on cliques for drama, the show places Sydney’s conflict internally for the most part. In fact, the popular girl trope so often used in media is refreshingly absent from I Am Not Okay with This.

Overall, I Am Not Okay with This is an incredible show, especially for those who enjoy coming-of-age stories, and it speaks to many important issues facing teenagers today.