“Luckiest Girl Alive” is a 2022 Netflix crime-mystery drama film that revolves around the life and journey of Ani Fanelli, a bold and confident young lady who’s planning to get married soon with a guaranteed job as a New York Times writer. But Ani is haunted by the traumatic events of her past, something that doesn’t leave her alone. She could never accept those events and tried to put up a personality that she never liked. From the very beginning of her career, Ani wanted people to love her, and she could only make it possible by putting up a fake persona. Ani wanted to acquire fame and respect in her life, and for that, she ignored all the little details of her life. Her seemingly perfect life is filled with fillers that highlight the painful chapters of her journey. Ani never wanted to disclose her side of the story, but Dean Barton’s arrival caused huge havoc in her personal as well as professional life. Aaron Wickersham is a filmmaker who plans to make a documentary from Ani’s perspective. Well, after years of fighting her past within herself, Ani was ready to face them as Tifani once again. She changed her name to change her identity, but her past didn’t leave her. It was time for her to face them and relive them.
Ani was terrified of her past self, and no matter what, he would never sacrifice her current status and personality to get something back. She kept back many secrets from her fiance and pretended to be the high-class lady that she wasn’t. Sharing her story was not in her books, but even though she had everything, her life was still monotonous. Finally, she stood up for the documentary and decided to introduce her version of the events. Yet, she didn’t disclose all the information, as a part of her was stuck with her current status. But amidst all this, Ani failed to understand that she held the biggest power in her hands, and that was the power of writing. Even though she was doing the documentary, people still blamed her for events that she was never a part of.
Ani was a victim of abuse and rape. She was hurt by the ones who pretended to love her. The night of the Brentley high school dance was one of the terrifying nights of her life. Ani passed out from overconsumption of alcohol. She couldn’t understand the severity of her body. The only thing she noticed was the blood dripping down from her body. She managed to escape Dean’s house, but her boyfriend, Liam, cheated on her as he already had plans to hurt Ani. Along with Peyton and Dean, Liam abused and molested her. But somehow, she gathered the courage and escaped from his house. Ani remembered the details of the deadly shootout at her school. Her mind was filled with the vague scenarios of Ben entering the room with a rifle and shooting each one of those who hurt him.
Just like Ani, Ben was a victim of bullying as well. Ben and Arthur were upset with the fact that Ani couldn’t stand up for herself. She was scared to face her mother since she knew that Dinah sacrificed everything for her studies, and there was no way that she would ever understand Ani’s pain. But Arthur wanted to avenge them by teaching them a lesson that cost their lives. Even today, she reminisces about the situations from her past where her teensy revenge self arose and she didn’t hold the door for Liam to escape. He was one of her rapists, and there was no way that she would forgive him for his deeds. But the toughest part for her to swallow was the death of her best friend, Arthur. Arthur placed a rifle in her hand and asked her to shoot Dean to death. But Dean was already injured, and he lost the ability to walk as well.
Now the toughest part of her whole life was to kill the person that she loved the most. Ani had no choice but to strike a knife through Arthur’s neck. To this day, Ani remembers the ambiguous look on his face, filled with multiple questions. He couldn’t understand the reason for Ani’s drastic step. She, in turn, paid for that mistake. Dean didn’t appreciate her for saving his life. She was blamed for participating in the shooting. But that was not the case. Ani spent the rest of her school time with loneliness and grief as she had no companions. But this time, she had to change the whole course of her life. Ani approached Dean and demanded an explanation for ruining her life. Dean decided to plead for a deal where he would apologize for taking her name in the shooting, but he would never accept the rape part. Dean enjoyed the fame he had. He wanted to spoil her name to acquire social status amongst the people.
He threatened to ruin her reputation by claiming that Ani had initiated the gunfire. But Ani is smart; she recorded the entire conversation and released her article in the New York Times. On the day of her rehearsal dinner, she broke off with Luke and decided to live her life on her terms. Since nobody supported her, everyone wanted her to put up with a persona that she never wanted to have. But “Luckiest Girl Alive” provides a very important lesson that people should never choose others over themselves. Our happiness and pleasure are much more important than someone else’s priorities. In the beginning, Ani is a person who has faked her entire life to get a well-earning husband and high social status, but towards the end, it is pretty clear that Ani will finally unleash her bubbly and outgoing personality to withstand her experiences with courage and kindness.
See more: What Is Ani’s Dark Secret In The Film ‘Luckiest Girl Alive’? Why Is She Scared Of Knives?
