Mila Kunis is the 'Luckiest Girl Alive' in this Netflix film based on a bestselling novel

Ani FaNelli seemingly has it all figured out.

Ani, played by Mila Kunis in “Luckiest Girl Alive,” is a popular sex columnist at a New York magazine with a bright future and a boss (Jennifer Beals) eager to advance her career. She’s engaged to Luke (Finn Wittrock), a financier and scion of an upper-crust, old-money family; Luke’s grandmother’s ring, now adorning Ani’s finger, is basically an all-access pass, a friend notes.

But there’s a nagging thread keeping Ani from enjoying all of this, or at least from enjoying it fully. And she fears if she pulls it, her perfect life will unravel.

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The film, streaming on Netflix on Oct. 7, is good, not great; it never quite marries the skewering of New York elites with the true-crime feel of its grittier elements. But the performances keep it mostly on track.

Fans of Jessica Knoll's novel will notice some differences in the film

The film is based on the novel by Jessica Knoll, who also wrote the screenplay. If you read the book — a lot of people did; it was a bestseller — you know that Ani experienced two horrible traumas in her life, both in high school. I won’t reveal them here, and the film seems structured as if they were deeply held secrets from Ani’s life. (Fans of the book will also note significant changes in the story.)

Except they aren’t secrets.

Again, treading lightly here so as not to spoil anything, the events in Ani’s past that have so colored her present aren’t just known, they’re nationally known. Perhaps the enormity of their impact isn’t — no one can truly say how trauma affects someone except the person who experienced it. But it’s an odd way to tell the story.

The splinter in the otherwise buffed-to-a-fine-sheen life Ani has built for herself is a documentary film that incorporates both events. The documentary’s director (Dalmar Abuzeid) has been after her for years to hear her side of the story. But Ani has never felt ready — she believes her side of things will be invalidated if she doesn’t make every aspect of her life perfect.

So far, so good. Yet whether it’s imposter syndrome or a sense that she is not being honest with herself or others, Ani can’t shake the notion that maybe she should participate.

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At times 'Luckiest Girl Alive' plays like a long episode of 'Cruel Summer'

Director Mike Barker has worked extensively in TV, which may account for why the film sometimes feels like an elongated episode of “Cruel Summer” — particularly with the jumps back and forth in time to Ani’s high-school years and to her present.

The young Ani is played by Chiara Aurelia, quite good and adept at creating her own character while playing a version of Kunis’ — a tough trick.

Only in high school she was called TifAni. She won a scholarship to an exclusive private school, all part of her mother’s long-term plan to land her daughter an appropriately rich and important husband one day.

Connie Britton plays the mom, and it’s fun to see her go against type as a scheming, selfish woman who can only see her daughter’s good and bad experiences through her own eyes. Any performance that can make you groan and yell at the screen is a good one.

Wittrock has pretty much perfected the to-the-manor-born rich snob; status and money are more important to him than anything else, which explains why a potential job for Ani at the New York Times Magazine doesn’t impress him like it should.

But it’s up to Kunis to carry the film, and for the most part she does.

She’s intriguing as someone with a secret, getting both aspects of the tough vulnerability of her character right — though she’s better at the tough part. Her line delivery of the film’s title is perfect, both in context and in establishing who her character is. It almost slips by, but be ready for it. It doesn’t save the film, exactly, but it helps.

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'Luckiest Girl Alive' 3.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Mike Barker.

Cast: Mila Kunis, Chiara Aurelia, Connie Britton.

Rating: R for violent content, rape, sexual material, language throughout and teen substance use.

Note: Streaming on Netflix on Oct. 7.

Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk. Subscribe to the weekly movies newsletter.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Luckiest Girl Alive' movie review: Mila Kunis makes it work