Adolescence is a tumultuous time, but in the pop-culture landscape, puberty can often bring with it unexpected, possibly supernatural or telekinetic powers. Netflix has already had a successful adaptation of a graphic novel by Charles Forsman (a.k.a. “the left-handed Frank Miller”) with The End Of The F***ing World. Now the series goes back to that particular well for an adaptation of I Am Not Okay With This, which appears to be in the tradition of Stephen King’s Carrie. It co-stars Sophia Lillis (also, Sharp Objects and Nancy Drew And The Hidden Staircase) and Wyatt Oleff reunite to portray troubled Sydney and her friendly neighbor Stanley.
Like the book, the trailer starts out with the line, “Dear diary, go fuck yourself.” Sydney has been tasked with keeping a journal by her school counselor, as she keeps having fits of anger that are getting more difficult to control. Any hormone-fueled teenager can relate, until Sydney’s anger take a turn and starts becoming more destructive and powerful than she can handle. Given that the trailer kicks off with the image of a very Carrie-like, blood-soaked Sydney, we suspect things don’t go well. But the pedigree of Forsman, The End Of The F***ing World director Jonathan Entwistle, Stranger Things producers including Josh S. Barry, Dan Cohen, and Rand Geiger, along with the talented young cast, make this a series for adolescent/horror fans to carve out some time for when it drops on Netflix on February 26.