A very lucky girl has just arrived on Netflix and with that, has been catching the public’s attention. This led the film to quickly top the service’s TOP 10 in Brazil. Full of twists, Mike Barker is responsible for directing the thriller.
the plot of A very lucky girl revolves around Ani Fanelli, a successful journalist in New York. Ani is focused on a magazine for women. But her life changes dramatically when she is accused of being involved in a school shooting by her former classmate Dear Barton.
The truth is, Ani, who was previously raped by Dean and two of his friends, is trying to find a way to deal with the accusation. In addition, she needs to try to remove the trauma associated with the horrific gang rape.
The accounts presented in the film are extremely realistic, demonstrating Ani’s struggles and resilience. With that, fans began to question whether some point of A very lucky girl is inspired by a true story. As well, if there is any connection with Mila Kunis in real life. Well, here’s what we know.
the real story of a very lucky girl
Yup. We can say that a real story determined a large part of A very lucky girl. It turns out that director Mike Barker created the film from the novel of the same name by Jessica Knoll. The novel, like the film, follows Ani’s struggles with the traumatic gang rape and school shooting.
Although both the novel and the film have a fictional part, they also contain a real account. The specific plot surrounding Ani’s gang rape is based on Jessica Knoll’s own experience as a teenager. Shortly after the novel was published, Knoll shared her real-life experience with Lena Dunham’s Lenny Letter.
Knoll was raped by three boys, as the author reports. Although she did not reveal their names, this act happened when she was 15 years old and took place during a party. In A very lucky girl we see this happening with Ani.
However, Knoll was never able to reveal the event to the next. After all, according to the writer, no one would call it rape. The writer stated:
“Like Ani, the only way I knew how to survive was to laugh out loud at my rapists’ jokes, talk softly to the mean girls, and focus on carving my tunnel out of there.”
Like the character, Knoll also migrated to New York, with the “right wardrobe, glamor work and a ring on her finger before she turned 28.” Like the protagonist of “A very lucky girl“, who works for The Women’s Bible, Knoll worked for Cosmopolitan. But, all these transformations were not able to erase from them the horrors of her experience:
“The first person to tell me I was gang-raped was a therapist, seven years after the fact.”
A very lucky girl materialized the Knoll experience
The novel came at a time when Knoll wanted to lighten his real-life experience. To EW, the author stated:
“I’ve always felt this burning need to get this story off my chest somehow.”
Of course, Knoll doesn’t originate the entire story of the film. In fact, this is the reason why, Knoll says that it is not a “memoir”. After all, the story of the school shooting is fictional. But, Knoll made it clear that he described it realistically, after all, he remembered the various school shootings that took place across the country.
While he doesn’t limit the narrative to his real-life experience, Knoll manages to explore the challenges faced by teenage students. Therefore, the author was realistic due to the tragic occurrences of school shootings.
Changes from the book
Despite a very lucky girl being an adaptation, several changes to the script were made. Including, many of them, by the Knoll itself. The book ends with a confession, and the movie goes beyond that. In real life, after Knoll’s revelation, several people sought her out.
According to the author, similar cases were reported and this influenced the writer and Mila Kunis to write a new ending.
“At some point I remember saying that when I wrote my essay for Lenny Letter, I was inundated with messages from women sharing their stories. That unlocked something in us [Knoll e Kunis] where we were, maybe there’s a way to use that to shape our ending.”
Image: Disclosure/Netflix
not end of A very lucky girl, the journeys of the character and the writer are similar. Especially, after the publication of his interview with Lenny Letter.
“It’s true that it’s a fictional story, a fictional character, but there are even more elements inspired by my real life. I like that we look back at the year that followed me writing the book and writing my essay and the reaction to it and going on a TV show to talk about it. I enjoyed incorporating that into the film because I think it makes for a more epic journey that Ani continues on.”
So you watched a very lucky girl?
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