TW: Sexual assault, rape, and murder.
Netflix's newest thriller, Luckiest Girl Alive, arrived on screens this weekend and the movie's hard-hitting and realistic portrayal of victim blaming – as well as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)–after sexual assault has been praised by viewers.
To recap, Mila Kunis stars in Luckiest Girl Alive as Ani FaNelli, "a sharp-tongued New Yorker who appears to have it all: a sought-after position at a glossy magazine, a killer wardrobe and a dream Nantucket wedding on the horizon."
But, the synopsis explains, "when the director of a crime documentary invites her to tell her side of the shocking incident that took place when she was a teenager at the prestigious Brentley School, Ani is forced to confront a dark truth that threatens to unravel her meticulously crafted life."
After watching the film–in which we see Ani dealing with the PTSD triggered by a brutal gang rape and a mass shooting at her school–viewers took to social media to commend how the complex mental health condition and the treatment of sexual assault victims were depicted.
"Luckiest Girl Alive is the best depiction of Complex PTSD I’ve ever seen. A moving portrayal of coping with assault in a culture that protects the perpetrators," one viewer tweeted, with another writing: "Luckiest Girl Alive on Netflix was such a great portrayal of what life is like before, during, and after a rape. For all survivors, this will hit hard. I truly hope all my male friends watch and try to understand how we feel."
"I just watched the Luckiest Girl Alive and it was the most raw film I have ever seen tackling rape, PTSD, and victim blaming. I felt uncomfortable in some part[s] of the film and rightly so because we should feel uncomfortable blaming victims for what happened," a third viewer said on socials, with a fourth chiming into the conversation with: "Luckiest Girl Alive on Netflix, shows a glimpse of what rape victims go through with all the victim blaming, slut shaming, the intense trauma afterwards and how [society pressures] them to just snap out of it and move past it. Good watch!"
Luckiest Girl Alive is available to stream now on Netflix.
***
This article originally appeared on Cosmopolitan.com/uk. Minor edits have been made by the Cosmo.ph editors.
