Alex Rose has built her entire life on perfection and control. A driven executive at her mother’s booming beauty empire, she lives by schedules, rules, and relentless ambition until life hits her with a cruel twist. When her mother, Elizabeth Rose, succumbs to terminal cancer, Alex’s world begins to crumble.
But Elizabeth, ever the wise and mischievous matriarch, leaves behind a will that contains a surprising condition: before Alex can receive her inheritance, she must complete a “Life List” she wrote as a 13-year-old girl.
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At first, Alex laughs off the childish goals scrawled in faded ink, things like kiss a boy under the stars, learn to play the piano, save someone’s life, and find true love. But her mother’s lawyer and close friend, Brad, insists this is no joke. The list must be completed before the end of the year. Alex reluctantly begins, rolling her eyes as she signs up for a local comedy open-mic to check off “make people laugh.” The scene turns awkward fast as she freezes mid-set, gets heckled, and rushes off the stage in humiliation. But something stirs in her: maybe her mother wanted to teach her how to fail gracefully.
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As weeks roll by, Alex keeps ticking off items. She volunteers at a women’s shelter, where she meets Garrett, a passionate teacher who challenges her hardened view of success. Slowly, through late-night laughter with the women, music lessons with street performers, and daring herself to travel to places she once only dreamed of, Alex begins peeling away the layers of her guarded personality.
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Meanwhile, her long-term boyfriend, Finn, grows increasingly distant. He can’t understand this “list nonsense” or her sudden desire to explore deeper things. The tension peaks when she meets Brad again kind, steady, patient Brad who helps her face the emotional weight her mother left behind. As they revisit old family places, Alex learns secrets her mother kept hidden, especially about her estranged father, Johnny, a washed-up musician she once idolized.
The year winds down with Alex feeling like she’s failed the final and most important task: find true love. She’s alone at her newly inherited country home, watching an old video her mother recorded. In it, Elizabeth tells her that the real reward was never money it was rediscovering who she used to be before fear took over. Tears stream down Alex’s face as she finally understands.
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That night, Brad shows up, confessing that he’s been quietly falling for her. The film closes with Alex kissing him under the same starlit sky her younger self once dreamed about, the last item finally complete.
Director: Adam Brooks
Cast: Sofia Carson, Connie Britton, and Nicholas Hoult.
Runtime: 1h 55m
Watch trailer here.
