We save that side of ourselves for real interactions, for our friends and family and partners.
There, we can be judged, sure, but we’re not looking for hearts or likes.
We’re just looking for connection.
Credit: David Dettmann/Netflix
But what if the opportunity for that, too, was taken away?
What if every single in-person encounter was up for consideration, a real-life Yelp-style rating that affects your reputation?
After each interaction, the participating parties rate the other person on a scale of 1 to 5.
So she sets off on a mission to raise it to a 4.5 in record time.
It’s not just the apartment she lusts after, though.
In the kitchen, she wears a pink silk nightgown, her hair done up.
At first, she tries to do this by going to a coach and getting some advice.
He tells her it should take about 18 months to reach 4.5.
She doesn’t have that sort of timeshe needs that apartmentnow.
“Be genuine!”
her coach tells her afterward.
This is something Lacie struggles with.
Everyone likes nostalgia posts, right?
So she gets to work on writing the most heartwarming, irresistible speech she can.
Too bad she pissed off multiple people on her way to the airport, bringing her down to 4.1. never have to see again.
In this world, you throw a tantrum at the airport and it stays with you.
There isn’t any room for mistakes here.
That is, until a truck driver named Susan (Cherry Jones), a 1.4 herself, stops.
Once upon a time, Susan was a 4.6.
Afterward, Susan gave up on being a prim and proper 4.6.
It didn’t save her husband, so what’s the point of it?
Why not just be real?
Well, because people don’t like it.
But Susan doesn’t give a s about being liked.
She’s not kidding.
She wants to find that before she starts shedding her obsession with ratings.
Oh, and also, she’s drunk after chugging a thermos full of whiskey Susan gifted her with.
Lacie’s going to get that rating boost though whether the bride likes it or not.
Spoiler: The bride doesn’t like it.
Another spoiler: She’s not going to get that rating boost.
She takes a cue from Susan, ripping Naomi for moving on from their friendship.
Not exactly an effective threat, but a threat nonetheless.
There, she asks her cell neighbor what the f he’s looking at.
and “You look like an alcoholic former weatherman!")
at each other until they’re both screaming “f!”
They’re free… but in jail.
This ending feels oddly anticlimactic and slightly unsatisfyingafter so much buildup, all we get is Lacie yelling?
It’s still unnatural, sure.
Her fakeness is overwhelminglythere, annoying and cloying and yet, devastatingly understandable.
What would you choose?
