The Life List is a 2025 Netflix drama about Alex Rose, a young woman whose late mother requires her to complete the goals Alex wrote as a teenager before she can receive her inheritance. Directed and written by Adam Brooks, the film uses the list to examine grief, family memory, friendship, romance, and the question of whether Alex is living a life she actually chose.
The Life List is a 2025 Netflix drama about Alex Rose, a young woman whose late mother leaves her an unusual inheritance condition: she must complete the list of goals Alex wrote as a teenager. Directed and written by Adam Brooks, the film uses that premise to explore grief, family memory, friendship, romance, and the difficult process of deciding what kind of adult life is genuinely yours.
It is also an adaptation of Lori Nelson Spielman’s 2013 novel The Life List. The film keeps the book’s central idea—a daughter completing a youthful life list after her mother’s death—but changes the protagonist’s name, supporting characters, relationships, settings within the story, and several dramatic details.
What is The Life List about?
Alex Rose appears to have settled into a predictable adult routine when her mother, Elizabeth, dies. Instead of receiving her inheritance immediately, Alex is given a challenge: she must complete the ambitions she wrote down as a teenager.
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The list takes Alex outside the life she has become accustomed to. Among its goals are performing at an open-mic comedy night, teaching at a women’s shelter, attending a charity event, and playing one-on-one basketball. Each task is more than a quirky item to check off. The experiences force Alex to ask whether she abandoned dreams because they no longer suited her—or because she gradually accepted other people’s expectations as her own.
Her journey is also a way of remaining connected to Elizabeth. The list becomes a posthumous conversation between mother and daughter, although Alex does not always understand or appreciate her mother’s choices. As the tasks reveal family secrets and unresolved questions, Alex has to reconsider her work, her relationships, and the version of herself she thought she had outgrown.
The cast and characters
- Sofia Carson as Alex Rose: The film’s protagonist, whose mother’s challenge disrupts her established adult life.
- Connie Britton as Elizabeth Rose: Alex’s mother, whose posthumous instructions set the story in motion.
- Kyle Allen as Bradley “Brad” Ackerman: A young lawyer connected to the Rose family who becomes Alex’s confidant and romantic counterpart.
- Sebastian de Souza as Garrett: One of Alex’s romantic possibilities. The film gives him more complexity than a simple villain role.
- Dario Ladani Sanchez and Federico Rodriguez: Alex’s brothers.
- Marianne Rendón as Zoe: A member of Alex’s wider social circle.
The supporting ensemble also includes José Zúñiga, Jordi Mollà, Michael Rowland, Chelsea Frei, Luca Padovan, Rachel Zeiger-Haag, Maria Jung, and Donnetta Lavinia Grays.
Is The Life List a romantic comedy?
It has romantic-comedy elements, but calling it a pure romantic comedy would undersell the film. Netflix presents it as a drama with romantic and family-oriented elements, and the emotional center is Alex’s grief and self-discovery rather than the question of which man she will choose.
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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesAlex and Brad’s relationship develops through friendship, trust, and emotional support. Their connection is not presented as an instant, uncomplicated attraction. Garrett is also treated as a flawed and human character rather than as an obviously evil obstacle. That approach makes the romantic storyline part of Alex’s larger process of becoming more honest about what she wants.
What happens at the end? (Spoilers)
By the conclusion, Alex has completed important parts of her life list and moved closer to understanding the purpose behind her mother’s challenge. The tasks have not simply restored Alex’s teenage ambitions. Instead, they have helped her decide which dreams still belong to her and which no longer fit the person she has become.
Alex’s romantic resolution is with Brad. Their relationship grows out of the friendship and trust established during the list’s challenges, giving the ending an emotional foundation beyond a sudden declaration of attraction. The inheritance, meanwhile, functions as more than money: it represents Elizabeth’s attempt to leave Alex a way to continue living while processing her loss.
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The film’s ending does not argue that every childhood goal must be completed literally. Its point is closer to this: revisiting an earlier version of yourself can reveal what was lost, what has changed, and what is still worth pursuing. Alex finishes the process more present in her own life, not simply with a longer checklist.
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The list gives the film its structure, but its deeper function is emotional.
Grief as an active process
Elizabeth’s challenge prevents Alex from treating grief as something that can be neatly concluded. Every assignment keeps her mother present in the story while also requiring Alex to move forward without her.
Living versus performing a life
Alex must examine whether her adult choices reflect her own values or merely look successful from the outside. The film’s central question is not “How many goals can she complete?” but “Who chose this life in the first place?”
Friendship before romance
Alex and Brad’s connection develops through companionship and trust. That gradual progression supports the film’s broader argument that meaningful relationships require attention and honesty rather than simply dramatic chemistry.
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Family memory and inheritance
The inheritance is both financial and emotional. Elizabeth leaves behind information, unfinished conversations, and a framework through which Alex can understand their relationship differently.
Revisiting childhood ambitions with adult judgment
The film does not say that Alex must obey every fourteen-year-old version of herself. It treats the teenage list as evidence of curiosity and possibility, not as a permanent contract. Adult judgment still matters.
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New York as part of the story
The film is set in New York City, with Brooklyn especially important to the Rose family’s identity. It was shot on location in New York, and Adam Brooks has described the setting as personally meaningful because of his connection to Brooklyn.
That choice helps the movie avoid making its world feel interchangeable. Apartments, offices, neighborhoods, and public spaces become part of Alex’s emotional geography. New York is not merely a backdrop for romantic scenes; it is the environment in which family history, ambition, work, and reinvention overlap.
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The 2025 film is based on The Life List by Lori Nelson Spielman, published by Bantam in 2013. The novel follows Brett Bohlinger, not Alex Rose. Its premise is similar: after her mother’s death, Brett must complete a list she wrote as a teenager before receiving her inheritance.
The adaptation preserves the emotional engine of the story—maternal loss, a conditional inheritance, and a forgotten adolescent list—but it is not a scene-for-scene translation. The film changes names, supporting relationships, scenes, and parts of the dramatic structure while reinventing the material for a contemporary screen story.
Release and where to watch
Netflix released The Life List on March 28, 2025. Netflix currently identifies it as a 2025 PG-13 drama and lists English as the original audio language, along with dubbed and subtitled options.
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Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Who will enjoy The Life List?
The film is a good fit for viewers who like character-driven dramas with romance, family secrets, and a hopeful emotional arc. Its bucket-list premise may suggest a light checklist adventure, but the story spends more time on grief, identity, and relationships than on spectacle or travel.
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It may especially appeal to viewers who enjoy films about returning to abandoned ambitions, complicated parent-child relationships, and the tension between the life someone planned and the life they actually built. Those seeking a straightforward romantic comedy may find the family and coming-of-age-in-adulthood material just as important as the romance.
Key facts
| Film | The Life List |
|---|---|
| Release date | March 28, 2025 |
| Platform | Netflix, subject to regional availability |
| Genre and tone | Drama with romance, family relationships, and self-discovery |
| Writer-director | Adam Brooks |
| Lead | Sofia Carson as Alex Rose |
| Source material | Lori Nelson Spielman’s 2013 novel The Life List |
| Novel protagonist | Brett Bohlinger |
Bottom line: The Life List turns a familiar bucket-list setup into a story about grief and adult self-redefinition. Alex’s assignments matter because they reopen a relationship with her mother and expose the difference between a life that looks settled and one that feels honestly lived. The film’s strongest companion piece is Spielman’s source novel, especially for viewers interested in seeing how the same emotional premise changes when adapted for the screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Life List based on a book?
Yes. The 2025 film is based on Lori Nelson Spielman’s 2013 novel The Life List. The movie changes the protagonist from Brett Bohlinger to Alex Rose and substantially reinvents supporting characters, scenes, and some of the dramatic mechanics.
What is The Life List movie about?
The film follows Alex Rose, who must complete the goals she wrote as a teenager after her mother’s death. The challenge leads her through experiences involving work, family, friendship, romance, and questions about whether her adult life reflects her own wishes.
Who does Alex end up with in The Life List?
Alex ends up with Brad. Their relationship develops gradually through friendship, trust, and emotional support while Alex works through the list and her grief.
Where can you watch The Life List?
Netflix released the film on March 28, 2025. Current availability and language options can vary by country, so viewers should check Netflix in their region.
The Bottom Line
The Life List is a 2025 Netflix adaptation of Lori Nelson Spielman’s novel, following Alex Rose as she completes a teenage life list left by her late mother. Its real subject is not checking off goals but deciding which parts of an inherited life—and which dreams—still belong to Alex.
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