The Romance In The Life List Was Fine, But Something Else In The Movie Hit Me Much Harder

So, I watched The Life List, and it was certainly something—but surprisingly, the romance wasn’t what did it for me.

There are plenty of great rom-coms that are releasing as part of the 2025 movie schedule, ones that I’m really looking forward to and ones that have taken me a while to watch. The Life List is one of those, and it premiered with the 2025 Netflix schedule. Based on the novel of the same name, the movie follows a woman whose goal is to complete everything on a list for her “perfect life” that she wrote when she was a teenager in order to receive an inheritance from her late mother.

The film itself is one of those light-hearted movies, but somehow, the main romance doesn’t really capture me—and we’ll get into why below.

The Romance Was Cute, But I Didn’t Stay For It

Like I said before, the romance was fine – I didn’t stick around and watch the whole film for it.

That’s not to say it wasn’t a decent little story to watch—it was! Is The Life List going to be one of the best rom-com movies ever? No, but it was still enjoyable.

I mean, there’s a lot to like about it. Cute banter, friends to lovers – the tropes are there, and they’re fun. If you’re just here for that, then you’ll enjoy the movie. But for me, I wanted something that digs deep into the things we want in life.

I’m honestly surprised by what the movie gave me—and what I ended up loving the most.

I Was Actually Into The Mother-Daughter Relationship

Let me preface this by saying that I never read the original novel. While there are plenty of upcoming book-to-screen adaptations that I am looking forward to, this was one I was not aware of, so I had no idea what this movie was about aside from the basic premise.

Obviously, since it’s marketed as a rom-com, we all expect to go into it loving the romance, and it’s a fun one, but I was very interested in the mother-daughter relationship between Alex and her mom and the videos she left for her.

First off, I really want to give a lot of praise to Sofia Carson and Connie Britton. It’s not exactly easy to find actors who have chemistry on screen, but you want to know what’s probably harder? Creating that chemistry when you’re not even in the same room. 99% of their scenes are Alex speaking to her mother while watching the DVDs that her mom made for her.

Aside from that, the mother-daughter connection is really what drew me in.

We see right from the beginning that they’re close and that Alex would do anything to try and help her mother. But once she realizes that there’s nothing they can do about her disease, she holds her mother close.

Throughout the film, we see that her mother isn’t exactly the person she believed her to be. She had her secrets, her goals, her ambitions, and so much more that Alex discovered during the story. And that’s the kind of relationship that is really hard to get right when we barely see the characters together.

I Was Loving Their Connection, And How They Communicated

Another thing I really loved is that Alex kept discovering things about her mom, even after her death. Talk about a connection that is unlike any other.

Alex discovers all these new things about her mother, and really starts to connect with her in a way that is unlike any other. Finding out who her actual dad really is and watching those recorded videos helps her really understand who she is and who her mother was, even how her mom truly felt about some of Alex's ‘life list’ objectives – it’s so beautiful.

That’s the type of stuff that you really don’t see in movies like this that often – least of all from someplace like Netflix that can sometimes drop some of the most generic rom-coms of all time. It’s refreshing in the best way.

It Reminded Me Of My Own Personal Family Relationship – And I Love That

The biggest reason I loved this connection—and why it won me over more than the romance—is that it reminded me of my own connection with my mother.

I’ve mentioned my mom a couple of times in a few other articles about our shared experiences with movies and such, like watching Carrie with her or just talking about how thankful I was for her as a kid. She’s still here with us—and loving me just as much as ever.

But what I think The Life List does really well with this connection is that it feels real. While I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have the best relationship with their family, I am so lucky that I have been fortunate enough to experience that. I have a loving father and a brother who drives me up the wall, but most importantly, a mother who was always there for me and would probably do something very similar to Elizabeth (Alex’s mother).

The moment that really cemented it, though, was when Alex came into her mother’s room while she was recording one of the DVDs. She didn’t realize what Elizabeth was doing, but she hugged her and said she loved her. I genuinely got super teary-eyed.

It’s those kinds of instances in life where you never really know what is going on in someone’s life, or if it’ll be the last time you see them, or whatever the case. This reminded me so much of my mother and I – and while it might sound a tad odd, I do hug her and tell her I love her time and time again when I leave the house because I always want her to know.

I didn’t think I’d feel such a strong connection to this movie. Let’s not even get into the fact that the daughter’s name was Alex – I feel like I see female characters in films or TV who go by the name Alex like I do, and it was a delight.

While the romance is cute—and the movie has inspired others to take action with their partners—I’ve been focused a lot more on the mother-daughter feelings of it all. Now, I feel like I have to call my mom and tell her that I love her. And if you feel the same, be sure to call your mom, too.