Dakota Johnson Leans Into Her Authentic Self Asking Am I OK

One’s youth is spent either leaning into  yourself or wasting time becoming who you think you should be or what others perception of you happens to be.

Lucy (Dakota Johnson)  and Jane  (Sonoya Mizuno) are the best of friends,  finishing each other’s sentences, predicting every detail of each other’s food order and pretty much knowing everything about each other there is to know- so they think. But when Jane is promoted on her job and agrees to move to London, Lucy confesses her deepest, long-held secret – she likes women and has felt this way for a long time. Yet, she’s terrified by this later-in-life realization. Suddenly, their friendship is thrown into chaos as the two choose different routes by which to navigate the unexpected changes in their lives.

Am I Ok is the perfect film to address these issues that any man or woman may grapple with while illustrating a variety of ways to deal with all those feelings and desires.  The truth of the matter is relationships are relationships no matter how one identifies.  As a straight woman, I have repelled from someone trying to kiss me, been ghosted after an intimate encounter that I thought went pretty well and been that friend that moved away  with fears of my friendships becoming distant memory.  All of which is captured with spot on precision from Lauren Pomerantz’s clever script and razor sharp dialogue coupled with easy going direction from Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne.

Being vulnerable and putting yourself out there can be really scary and in some instances quite humiliating, but that doesn’t mean you stop living.  Each day presents a brand new opportunity to start over with a fresh slate, new people and circumstances.

Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno and Kiersey Clemons are endearing and sweet with characters sorting through life and the idea that it is possibly taking longer than any of them expected to figure out who they are in this world with or without each other in one another’s life.

My favorite moment of the entire film is the hammock sanctuary that is supposed to be zen, but is actually a little on the stressful side. Or, the moment Lucy starts googling and watching videos on ‘How Do I Know If I’m a Lesbian’ – like it’s a one size fits all answer to her issue. All of the shenanigans  made me laugh out loud.  I was thoroughly entertained with Am I Ok, which  is a cinematic journey into self exploration and  a simple reminder as they say in the film to f*&k or get of the pot.