The Life List, Netflix’s most recent book-to-film adaptation, debuted in March 2025. Led by Sofia Carson and Kyle Allen, the movie reinvents Lori Nelson Spielman’s best-selling 2013 book by telling a tale of loss, introspection, and surprising love.
Sofia Carson’s portrayal of Alex Rose in The Life List, has struck a profound chord with viewers and the actress herself. In addition to moving audiences, Carson said the film’s themes of love, self-discovery, and legacy encouraged her to consider her own “life list” outside of the movie.
The Story Behind the Story
Alex Rose loses her employment at her mother’s cosmetics company after the death of her mother, Elizabeth. In a shocking turn of events, in order for Alex to gain her inheritance, she must fulfil the tasks on the “life list” she wrote when she was thirteen. The tasks range from playing the piano, camping under a full moon, doing stand-up comedy, to finding true love and making amends with her father. Through Brad, the will executor, Alex receives a DVD with her mother’s video messages for every task she completes. As she goes along, Alex learns to take risks, experiences the highs and lows in romantic relationships, culminating in her completing the tasks and gaining her inheritance, as well as finding true love in the process. In typical Netflix tradition, the narrative strikes a mix between themes of loss and resiliency with romantic comedy energy.
Audience Impact & Emotional Ripples
In a subtle way, the movie has become a cultural phenomenon. Within weeks of its debut, the movie had over 53 million views and topped Netflix’s Global Top 10. The audience wasn’t merely observing, they were also taking note. Some were even motivated to reassess their own lives and relationships, choosing to make major changes such as quitting their jobs or ending their relationships, according to Carson. This impulse, she explained, is part of “the beauty of the film“, how it encourages introspection that goes beyond rom-com clichés.
Reception So Far
Reviews have been mixed, ranging from positive to negative. The premise is predictable, but it’s comfort food cinema at its best, according to Collider critics, who also praised Carson’s magnetic screen presence. Some, like Variety, claimed that instead of innovating with structure or style, it’s “sadly, the film’s sentiments hold as much depth and resonance as a ‘live, laugh, love’ placard on a dusty shelf at HomeGoods.” Online fans express their emotional responses to Alex’s journey on social media sites like Instagram and TikTok, with many mentioning how it motivated them to consider and create their own “life lists” and use Alex’s true love questions towards their own relationships or futures. While some others critique the movie for “glorifying cheating”, being corny and for poor acting. This conflict echoes earlier debates on Carson’s previous performance in Purple Hearts, which drew praise for her charisma as well as criticism for what was seen as a lack of emotional range.
Adaptation Choices
Spielman’s 2013 book was on the bestseller lists for weeks, and its continued appeal made a Netflix adaptation all but certain. However, it took significant narrative labour to turn the book’s episodic like storytelling approach into a coherent movie. The script updates the list’s challenges for a 2025 audience while taming some of the novel’s more melodramatic turns. For example, the 2013 book list involves going to Paris, having a baby and the common one of falling in love, while the 2025 movie adaptation involves getting a tattoo and reading Moby Dick, which are short term easier accomplishments to fit into a movie. In the 2025 adaptation, Alex’s path is subtly shaped by social media, anxieties about a career, and modern notions of independence. Traditionalists may enjoy the book’s more unfiltered emotional outbursts, but the adaptation chooses flow and accessibility. One major difference that hasn’t sat well with audiences is how rushed the movie is, while the book has a longer time line and shows in depth each list item getting completed, the movie swept over quite a few. Reiterated by Variety, the movie had “a huge family secret reveal takes us on a detour for a large portion of time that would play better in an episodic series rather than a condensed film.”
Final Thoughts
The Life List’s mix of sentimentality and self-discovery has obviously touched a cultural chord, even though it may not change the formula for rom-coms or adaptations. Netflix creates a movie that is both familiar and aspirational by adapting Spielman’s book for a 2025 audience. This encourages viewers to take a moment to think, ponder, and perhaps create their own “life lists.” Despite disagreements among critics regarding Sofia Carson’s performance and the film’s narrative cliches, its popularity demonstrates how stories of love, grief, and second chances are timeless. The Life List ultimately succeeds less as faultless filmmaking and more as an emotional stimulant, serving as a reminder to viewers that often the most valuable lessons from a film are not found in the action on screen but rather in the inspiration it evokes in us off screen.
Caitlin 
Clara 
Kath Smart