Based on the graphic novel by Charles Forsman, I Am Not Okay with This is about 15-year-old Sydney Novak, “Syd” (Sophia Lillis, It [2017]), who recently lost her father to suicide and through her grief has discovered she has an emotional Psychokinesis ability.

Forsman is also the author of The End of the F***ing World which became a Netflix Original in 2017 with the second season in 2019. Christy Hall and Jonathan Entwistle (The End of the F***ing World) are credited as co-creators on this new project, Entwistle directed all seven episodes.

The tone of the two shows are quite similar, they both feature highly pessimistic central female characters and an overwhelming sense of melancholy. Sadly, The End of the F***ing World was renewed for a second season when it didn’t need one and I Am Not Okay with This has not been due to COVID-19 even though it deserves one.

The End of the F***ing World’s first season could stand alone quite successfully whereas I Am Not Okay with This leaves the viewer on the edge of their seat salivating. I want my second season, and I want it now!
Sydney’s mother, Maggie Novak (Kathleen Rose Perkins), and brother, Liam Novak (Aidan Wojtak-Hissong), both create a family environment that balances between toxic and inviting. These relationships are what tether Sydney to a familiar reality.

The adorkable Stanley Barber (Wyatt Oleff, It [2017]) becoming aware of Sydney’s abilities caters more towards a believable fantasy rather than a psychotic break. Lillis and Oleff play off each other well, establish great banter and create a believable allyship. However, Stanley’s role as a willing sidekick makes the story harder to decode.

The unravelling of Sydney’s sexuality with Dina’s (Sofia Bryant) presence is what makes this series truly great. So often we see the dorky boy get with the pessimistic girl because no one else is willing to crack her shell. Here the closeted element derails the series from following this trope while also escalating Sydney’s emotional instability to the point of bottling up so much she destroys a freaking forest. Incredible.

This is why framing I Am Not Okay with This through Sydney’s diary voice-over has me convinced she’s an unreliable narrator.

Here are a few ways I think we can read this series:

  1. The powers represent an undiagnosed mental disorder (that her father also had) and writing about it as superpowers in her diary is a hallucination or unconscious coping mechanism.
  2. The powers are an allegory for the suppression of grief and true self Sydney experiences throughout the series, again she’s an unreliable narrator.
  3. We trust Sydney and say, “Sure. This very sad, complicated teenager totally has superpowers.”

All of these possibilities lure me in. I think the production has a lot to work with. The actors they’ve cast perform beautifully together. The possibilities of how to read Sydney’s abilities offer so much to unpack and play with for viewers. If Netflix is going to renew Riverdale, they should seriously consider renewing this instead.