Netflix brought to screens its film about two alternate realities, “Look Both Ways,” on August 17, 2022.
“Look Both Ways” was written by April Prosser and directed by Wanuri Kahiu. It is an authentic film about two different realities that could’ve happened because of one life changing choice. Natalie (Lili Reinhart), the main character and protagonist of the film, is an organized, hardworking and determined young lady who is set on her 5-year plan of finishing her degree, moving to Los Angeles with her best friend, getting a job in animation, and becoming CEO of a company. A few days before Natalie graduates college, she decides to spend the night with her boy best friend, Gabe (Danny Ramirez), and they promise each other to keep things friendly. But, on the night of her graduation at a party, this is where the two different realities start to occur. One reality is that when Natalie goes to the bathroom, she finds out she is having a baby, and the other is that she finds out she only has food poisoning and she is not having a baby. In this plot twist of a story, Netflix takes audiences into two separate realities–all because of one little choice.
One thing that was really enjoyable about this story was the version where she was not pregnant. To start, Natalie got to start out living her 5-year plan. She moved to Los Angeles with her best friend, got a job at an animation company, started dating the man of her dreams, and all in all was living the life she always dreamed of. This was really enjoyable to see as a viewer because it was what everyone watching wanted for this character all along. When watching a film, all the audience wants is for the main protagonist to be happy, and Natalie definitely was in this reality. This aspect made the movie worth tuning into.
To differentiate, something that was not so enjoyable was the version where she was pregnant and had a baby at a young age. Natalie had all of these dreams and aspirations, but she never got to move to Los Angeles with her best friend or start her dream of working in animation because she had to raise her child. It was almost disappointing to watch because it was obvious that she was let down and not the character we saw at the beginning of the movie. Now, we can definitely see the hype about how all the pieces ended up coming together eventually in this reality, but as a reviewer, it was not as enjoyable as the other reality where she did move to Los Angeles and live out her dreams like she deserved.
“Look Both Ways” portrayed two different realities of what can happen after making one singular life-changing decision. Out of any Netflix drama film, this one was the most unique because of the way they showed two different outcomes of one girl’s life. It was the first film many viewers saw that was set up like this, and almost every single one enjoyed it with a rotten tomato score of 62%. It is rated R, but it is still a very comfortable movie to watch with family or friends. It receives a worthy 4 star rating, and shows all viewers that in all outcomes of life, everything will always work out in the end.
