KSL Movie Show review: ‘The Life List’ is a film with sage advice
Mar 28, 2025, 7:00 AM | Updated: 8:00 am
The Life List starring Sofia Carson gets a B+.
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SALT LAKE CITY — I’ve been known to roll my eyes at movies like this, mainly because they feel manipulative towards unrealistic romantic notions. “The Life List” could have easily fallen into that troupe, but for some reason, it doesn’t – and the only explanation I can offer is that it genuinely felt like it was trying to help.
Whom you might ask?
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How about the childhood dreamers that boldly projected a potential future that for one reason or another, was never quite achieved. And now they’re just going through the motions, with little to no expectation that those dreams could ever come true, or worse, can’t even remember what those aspirations were.
Sound familiar? How many of us have fallen into that abyss? This story says – hey, let’s bring on a new set of eyes from a unique perspective on the subject.
Say hello to Alex (Sofia Carson). She’s a dynamic, early-30s, New Yorker who works for her mom Liz’s (Connie Britton) cosmetic company, but gave up on her dreams of becoming a teacher, to market mom’s makeup line, but Liz’s cancer is back with a vengeance and is forced to get her affairs in order.
To everyone’s surprise, at the reading of the will, Alex’s siblings are given control of the company and most of the family assets, while Alex is handed an envelope, only to be opened when she’s alone.
In it, Liz is concerned that Alex is not living anything close to her best life. She found a dream list that Alex had written years ago and wants her to fulfill every item on it. And with each accomplishment, Liz’s lawyer Bradley (Kyle Allen) will give Alex a special DVD from Mom to help her see everything through, no matter how frightening it might appear.
Oh and Alex must get all of these items done in a year, by New Year’s to be specific, in order to get her unknown inheritance. Crazy. I know.
Mom even goes so far as to provide the four questions Alex needs to ask herself in that pursuit. One, are you able to tell your partner everything that is in your heart. Two, is he kind. Three, does he help you become the best version of yourself. And four, can you imagine him as the father of your children.
Pretty sage advice. So if you find yourself at a point in your life where you are still trying to figure things out, check out “The Life List” – See if Alex can get it together, and in the process, maybe take away some good ideas that can help us as well, despite the occasional cheesy rom-com diversions.
THE LIFE LIST (B+) Rated PG-13 for sexual material, drug content and strong language. Starring Sofia Carson, Kyle Allen, Connie Britton, Sebastian De Souza and José Zúñiga. Co-written and directed by Adam Brooks (“Definitely, Maybe” “Almost You”) – filmed in New York City. Running time: 123 minutes. A NETFLIX exclusive.
Sound familiar? How many of us have fallen into that abyss? This story says – hey, let’s bring on a new set of eyes from a unique perspective on the subject.
Say hello to Alex (Sofia Carson). She’s a dynamic, early-30s, New Yorker who works for her mom Liz’s (Connie Britton) cosmetic company, but gave up on her dreams of becoming a teacher, to market mom’s makeup line, but Liz’s cancer is back with a vengeance and is forced to get her affairs in order.
To everyone’s surprise, at the reading of the will, Alex’s siblings are given control of the company and most of the family assets, while Alex is handed an envelope, only to be opened when she’s alone.
In it, Liz is concerned that Alex is not living anything close to her best life. She found a dream list that Alex had written years ago and wants her to fulfill every item on it. And with each accomplishment, Liz’s lawyer Bradley (Kyle Allen) will give Alex a special DVD from Mom to help her see everything through, no matter how frightening it might appear.
Oh and Alex must get all of these items done in a year, by New Year’s to be specific, in order to get her unknown inheritance. Crazy. I know.
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Some items seem pretty simple. Learn to drive (remember, a lot of people in New York City never learn). Get a tattoo (mom said forget that one). Do Stand-Up at an open-mic club. Be a great teacher. Make peace, NOT WAR, with dad (tough one). There are a handful of others, but the one that caught my eye was – FIND TRUE LOVE.
Mom even goes so far as to provide the four questions Alex needs to ask herself in that pursuit. One, are you able to tell your partner everything that is in your heart. Two, is he kind. Three, does he help you become the best version of yourself. And four, can you imagine him as the father of your children.
Pretty sage advice. So if you find yourself at a point in your life where you are still trying to figure things out, check out “The Life List” – See if Alex can get it together, and in the process, maybe take away some good ideas that can help us as well, despite the occasional cheesy rom-com diversions.
THE LIFE LIST (B+) Rated PG-13 for sexual material, drug content and strong language. Starring Sofia Carson, Kyle Allen, Connie Britton, Sebastian De Souza and José Zúñiga. Co-written and directed by Adam Brooks (“Definitely, Maybe” “Almost You”) – filmed in New York City. Running time: 123 minutes. A NETFLIX exclusive.
The KSL Movie Show with Andy Farnsworth and Steve Salles airs Fridays on KSL NewsRadio from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Follow the show on Facebook, and join The KSL Movie Show Club for exclusive perks by texting MOVIE to 57500. Message and data rates may apply. Text STOP to cancel. Message frequency varies.
