There are big, all-consuming emotions contained within the cosy Netflix weepie The Life List, a film about grief, family, love, dreams, heartbreak and the courage to strive for the life you truly want rather than the one you’ve settled for. Based on the bestselling novel by Lori Nelson Spielman, it’s a proudly heart-over-head confection and given how the platform has become a reliable provider of movies and shows aimed at younger women who have been underserved elsewhere, it’ll probably find its audience.
But writer-director Adam Brooks, who knows this world better than most, having been involved in sturdy star-led studio films such as Definitely, Maybe; Wimbledon; and the hugely underrated Meg Ryan romcom French Kiss, can’t quite squeeze the tears or cheers out of material that so desperately wants them. It’s a film about experiences many of us should be able to identify with – the fear that we’re not living our best life, the realisation we’re in an ill-fitting relationship, the crushing loss of a parent – but it’s all too pat and prettified to register as believably human.
