I'm very confused by all these comments referring to Mila Kunis' character as "unlikable" and a "terrible person"? Did we watch the same movie? I don't think the intention was for Mila's character to be terrible or unlikable. Wrongfully judged? Sure. Misunderstood? Absolutely. But unlikable? Nah.

In my opinion, this is a somewhat realistic portrayal of trauma survivors. Often, we don't truly understand why people act or react the way they do, until we delve deeper into their experiences. Sometimes, there is a haunting aura that surrounds trauma survivors. You can sense it. It's almost tangible. However, there are a lot of survivors who are experts at surpressing their pain. They've been shaped that way. It's necessary for their emotional survival. This movie touched on that.

Not all trauma survivors are engulfed by an obvious haunting aura. But the memories never leave. The memories tend to surface, even if just for a second. There are scenes where you catch a glimpse of that ugly beast rearing its head. For example, in an intimate scene where the lead's fiance comments on her aggressive tendencies in the bedroom. That is a psychologically common practice for assault survivors. They will often 'overcompensate', for lack of a better word. Their aggression is an attempt to regain control... control that they once lost in a previous encounter. They may be overtly aggressive to avoid being in another compromising position where they lose their power. It's as if every time they engage in intamacy, it's now on their terms, where they compete for power rather than just relinquish it. The scene where the younger lead character apologizes to the boy who assaulted her. That is another common psychological practice for survivors. They try to rationalize their abuser's action. It helps survivors feel like they weren't dehumanized. Instead, they chalk it up to a mistake or unclear communication. Maybe they didn't mean to hurt me? Was it a mistake? Also, what if no one believes me? Maybe it's safer to stay quiet and internalize it. I really appreciated those little subleties in the script.

I feel this movie was greatly misunderstood. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. I enjoyed it.

I needed to let that movie sink in. I went into it only knowing a very basic premise and that Mila Kunis is apparently giving a career best performance.

The movie tackles not one, but two extremely diffcult topics. It deals with rape and a school shooting. So, if those topics are triggering to to you, do not watch it. Do not continue with this review.

Kunis does in fact give a great performance as a woman traumatized by her past who has never really confronted her trauma and tried to push it away. Her character, Ani, is a writer for a women's magazine (writing about sex and man's pleasure nonetheless), engaged to rich and successful Luke (a great Finn Wittrock) and seemingly has build a great life for herself.

What is known to public is that she is the survivor of a school shooting and that fellow survivor Dean (Alex Barone) accuses her of being an accomplice rather than a victim. What nobody knows, because the story got twisted through the years is, that Ani was raped by Dean and his friends, Ani's High School boyfriend Liam (Isaac Kragten) among them, when she was a teenager.

Kunis does indeed a great job here. It's a break from her usual comfortable (even though great) comedic performances and she is allowed to show off some acting chops here. Ani is abrasive and hollow and created a personality that pleases people around her. She is a chameleon that can adapt to any situation to seem as "fine" as possible. She is not always a likeable character and she doesn't have to be. Would I call it a career best performance, I don't know. Most the heavy lifting is done by Cruel Summer's Chiara Aurelia who portrays a younger Ani, or Tiffany as she was known back then. Aurelia already showed in Cruel Summer that she is a great young actress and shines here as well, portraying a confused and scared girl, overwhelmed with a terrible situation and not able to deal with her trauma.

When a documentary film maker approaches Ani about an interview showcasing her point of view on the shooting, a downward spiral starts that pushes Ani to confront feelings she has buried a long time ago. Haunting flashbacks cue the viewer in on what really happened.

I admit, at first I was sure the movie would provide a twist ending. It toyed very early on (and very on the nose) with the concept of an unreliable narrator and I was almost certain that the movie would reveal Ani as an accomplice in the last couple of minutes (which would explain the sometimes grading voice over which could get slightly annoying). Half way through I was hoping to be wrong, because Ani being involved in planing a shooting wouldn't have done real survivors any good and would've felt exploitative and tasteless. Thankfully I was wrong and the twist never came. The movie works simply as an encouragement to speak up, that your trauma is valid and that no one can tell you how to feel about it. And that a lot of peope are simply trash and don't deserve to be protected, even if they went through terrible experiences as well.

The movie constantly walks a fine and sensitive line and tries to deal with both topics in a respectful way. Ani chooses to be called a victim instead of a survivor, because she had been denied to be one for so many years.

It also doesn't shy away from making sure the audience knows that the shooters have initially been victims of excessive bullying, but it doesn't excuse their behavior and choices with it. Instead of excusing what they did or blaming it on mental health (something the media loves to do) it shows it as a clear act of inexcusable revenge porn that's not justified, no matter through how much pain they went. Ani's choice not to engage in the horrible act, despite being traumatized and hurt by her fellow students actions and living on to turn her pain into something that can actively help other victims, is the direct flip side to it.

It's not an easy movie to watch and sometimes stays too much on the surface when it could have landed a deep dive, but for the complexity and sensitivity of the subject matter it does a fine job.