Am I OK?
Synopsis: When a woman’s best friend announces a move overseas, she’s moved to confide in her about an identity crisis.
There’s never a good time for your best friend to move. In Am I OK? Lucy and Jane are best friends. The women, both 30-ish, live in LA and are happily entwined. Jane (Sonoya Mizuno) and Lucy (Dakota Johnson) talk and laugh during hikes, after yoga class and over drinks. During the workday, they text each other.
Jane has a junior exec job at a company that has very cool office space. Her boss is played by Sean Hayes. In spite of the responsibility of being a CEO, he makes the time to be a benevolent trickster with his employees. He has fun teasing Jane before he offers her a promotion. The new job is in London, which thrills her because it’s her hometown. Jane had met Lucy as a teen, when she first–unhappily– moved from London to LA with her family.
Lucy works at a spa. I should say “works” because she never does anything but sit at her desk. Sometimes, through french doors, we see a guest lounging outside on a chaise. But we never see her interact with any customers, take any calls, work on the computer or even add lemon to the ice water.
Lucy exists in a vacuum with a new masseuse, Brittany (Kiersey Clemons), who flirts with her shamelessly. She always finding excuses to touch Lucy. Has she never heard of boundaries at work? When she spies Lucy sketching at her desk –I mean, she has to do something to fill the day– Brit declares her art amazing and insists she belongs elsewhere. Where; an all-day sketch shop?
The same day that Jane gets news of her promotion, she meets up for drinks with Lucy. Jane’s boyfriend, Danny (Jermaine Fowler) is there too. His character is a man-child sort. He dresses and acts like a high school guy. I think the character is meant to be quippy, but he comes off as a teen doubling down on a funny guy persona. He does have some good points though; Danny is supportive of Jane’s career and of her friendship with Lucy.
Lucy nearly chokes on her drink when Jane announces her imminent move. She manages to declare, “I’m so happy for you,” through tears. “You’ll visit me,” Jane reassures her.
I couldn’t help but think of how different Dakota Johnson’s life is from her character’s. Her parents are successful Hollywood actors and her boyfriend is Coldplay singer, Chris Martin. With such a glamourous background she probably wouldn’t wonder how a receptionist could afford such a nice apartment on her wages. Who knew LA was so affordable?
Then I thought of how co-star Sonoya Mizuno is Mysaria on House of the Dragon where she plays a mysterious and wise advisor to Queen Rhaenyra. Maybe you know her from Ex Machina where she was an android with mad dance skills. Oscar Isaac’s mad billionaire was very mean to her. At least her boss in Am I OK? is a decent person.
Bold Jane is flying high at the prospect of forwarding her career in London. But shy Lucy’s anticipatory sadness over Jane’s absence makes her recognize that she’s also sad about her dating life, or lack thereof. She has a guy who’s a good friend, but when he makes a tentative move, Lucy realizes not only does she not want to kiss him… but maybe not any guy.
This is when the movie shifts into high gear as Lucy asks herself: Am I gay? When she tells Jane that she thinks she might be gay, Jane is supportive. Lucy says she feels dumb for not having figured out her sexual identity yet. No worries, says Jane. She tells Lucy that in the weeks before she leaves, she will help her find a girlfriend. Lucy grins nervously.
What follows is an aggressive campaign to land Lucy some love. Jane assures her that once they go to a “lesbian jamboree” she’ll have lots of prospects. I felt a little bad for them when they headed out to a lesbian bar. Now, a men’s gay bar? That’s going to be a well-designed place with good music. Fortunately, it turns out that the lesbians in LA have much trendier clubs than, say, what lesbians in Indianapolis can only dream of.
But while Lucy wallflowers, seemingly wondering what kind of gay woman she might be, Jane tears up the dance floor, kissing dance partners as she goes. I don’t think this is what Lucy had in mind when her straight bestie said she’d help.
In fact, most of the straightees in the movie are off-putting. There’s Jane’s obnoxious colleague, Kat (Molly Gordon) who does the platonic version of love bombing with Jane. Training the spotlight on herself when gets together socially with Jane and Lucy, she makes strange pronouncements like, “The most important thing a friend can do for another friend is to tell them they have something in their teeth.”
Then there is a hetero who passes herself off as queer to satisfy her sexual curiosity and quickly ghosts Lucy. Ouch! Not to mention another straightee who puts off telling the truth about their intentions until the last minute. Maybe privilege can make a group insensitive? Maybe it’s just the characters who exist in Am I OK?
Lucy, on the other hand, is a decent person. But what I really wanted to know was if Lucy would find love in LA. I was waiting out the lowkey pace to learn if maybe Jane was gay too. Whatever her orientation, I hoped that Lucy and Jane’s friendship could survive a long distance relationship.
In fact, nothing really happens in Am I Okay? I started to wish I could turn the whole thing on its head and have Lucy discover she is, in fact, asexual and is happier spending her time painting surreal landscapes while Jane realizes that she is a pansexual whose calling is to move to Berlin. Instead, we get Lucy looking sadly perplexed while gazing at Jane while Jane enthusiastically manages Lucy’s social schedule.
And in answer to Jane’s question Am I Ok? Jane, you can afford to live in LA without working overtime. You are a caring and personable human being who looks like Dakota Johnson. Yes, you are okay.
Seeking your sexual identity? You are in a big club. In fact, in a metro area as big as Los Angeles, you can probably find a club that is literally for adults shifting gears along the sexual spectrum.
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