Netflix’s The Life List is almost like a new age ‘P.S. I Love You,’ where the protagonist receives DVDs instead of letters. Elizabeth often mentioned in passing how Alex was her favorite child. The mother-and-daughter connection was almost impossible to live up to for Alex’s two brothers, Lucas and Julian, and they simply made peace with their reality. Elizabeth ran a successful cosmetics brand, and recently Alex had joined her business. Even though she appreciated Alex’s interest in helping her out, she strongly believed that Alex had some figuring out to do before she settled in her life. As much as she claimed to be happy with her job, Elizabeth knew this was not the line of work her daughter was passionate about. Things took a turn for the worse when Elizabeth learned that her cancer was back and there was no medical treatment available. She had to accept her reality and, at the same time, prepare her little girl for the worst.
Spoiler Alert
What secret did Alex learn about her mother?
After Elizabeth passed away, her lawyer, Brad Ackerman, read out her will. While the siblings expected Alex to inherit a majority stake at their mother’s cosmetics company, they were shocked when they learned that their mother hadn’t left Alex with anything. Brad later explained to Alex privately that her mother had left her a note and a DVD. After playing the DVD, Alex realized that her mother wanted her to work on her life list, something that she had written down when she was thirteen. In the video, Elizabeth stated that even though Alex was not the same age anymore, she believed the list best represented the person she’d always wanted to become, she just didn’t try hard enough to reach her goals. Elizabeth mentioned that Alex had until New Year’s to work on every goal on the list, and only then would she receive a red envelope that would explain her inheritance. Alex thought working on the list for the sake of inheritance was quite lame, but the more she read the goals on the list, the more she wondered if it was worth trying. She realized she was in a loveless relationship, and she decided it was time that she refused to settle for anything less than real love. Alex dumped her boyfriend, Finn, and thus began her journey to do all the things she had once dreamt of. From doing standup comedy at least once in her life to becoming a teacher at a women’s shelter, Alex was gradually ticking her dreams off the list. Her mother had self-recorded videos that Brad handed Alex every time she ticked something off the list. The videos helped Alex cope with the absence of her mother. It was almost as if her mother was by her side watching her conquer all the things that she was once too afraid to acknowledge.
Alex never shared a loving relationship with her father. Her parents separated when she was fifteen, and she’d always assumed that it was her father who’d left her mother. While she saw her brothers share an affectionate bond with their father, she felt left out. She often thought that her father judged her for her failures, and she chose not to put up with his discriminatory treatment. According to the list though, she had to make amends, and she decided to give her father a chance. After talking to her father, Alex realized that her mother had cheated on him before she was born. He was ready to give their marriage another chance when Elizabeth got pregnant with Alex, and they had decided to never tell Alex that Samuel was not her father. Samuel always thought that while Elizabeth poured all her love and affection on Alex, he needed to be the one to give her reality checks, but he hadn’t realized that his treatment towards her was unconsciously affected by the truth.
When did Alex realize that Garrett was not the love of her life?
With Brad’s help, Alex discovered that her birth father was a musician named Johnny, and after their brief affair, he and Elizabeth chose not to stay in touch. Brad appointed a private detective to find out Johnny’s address, and when they finally had enough information, Alex decided to meet her father. While Alex was relieved and happy about the possibility of reuniting with her birth father, there was trouble in her love life.
Alex was attracted to Garrett, a man she came across on the subway and was later introduced to at her workplace. He was a consulting lawyer there, and they naturally gravitated towards one another. Garrett and Alex’s financial conditions were not the same, and Alex could sense that it was impacting their relationship. He preferred that they stay at his place because it was fancier and spacious, and hang out with his friends, but there were days when Alex wanted him to adjust to her as well. Garrett agreed that he too must make an effort to know Alex better, and that was when Alex decided to invite him to a party at her place. Garrett struggled to gel with Alex’s friends; he didn’t appreciate their humor, and he thought their conversations lacked intellect. He was also particularly irritated about the broken armchair at Alex’s place; all of it together ended up fouling his mood, and Alex figured they were just not on the same page.
Since Alex was a terrible driver, she ended up asking her new friend, Brad, for a lift to meet her father in Vermont. Brad happily tagged along with her, and his girlfriend, Nina, also joined in. Nina noticed a spark between Brad and Alex, something that she could not shake off even if she wanted to. When she confronted Brad, they got into an argument, and they eventually broke up. Brad chose to keep the entire conversation a secret from Alex and lied to her about Nina having to leave for work. Alex and Brad met Johnny that night. When Alex introduced herself, he recognized her. He explained that he’d wanted to meet her, but seeing her with her adoptive father made him realize that maybe it was best for him to stay away. He promised to meet Alex the next morning at breakfast. Alex was over the moon; she had already made plans to move to Vermont to spend more time with her father. She wanted to celebrate the night, and they ended up getting drunk. Brad and Alex made love that night, though it didn’t immediately translate to a loving relationship.
What did Alex inherit?
The next morning, Alex got up early and went to the breakfast area at the hotel waiting for her father, but he never showed up. Somewhere deep down, Alex knew he would abandon her. While he was her birth father, he never intended to take on any responsibilities. He preferred living his life without any relationships that would tie him down. Alex was heartbroken; she had assumed meeting her father would instantly change the direction of her life, but she realized it was just a silly dream. Alex was unsure about her feelings for Brad, even though he admitted that he adored her for all her goofiness and wanted to be with her because he loved every bit of her. She needed time to process her feelings, especially after the constant rejection she had faced from the people she thought would brighten her life. While Garrett later showed up at Alex’s apartment confessing that he missed her, she was over him because she could not imagine changing herself for someone else. Alex had failed to find love before New Year’s, but as it turned out, her mother had expected that to happen. She thought putting a timer on finding real love was cruel, so she had asked her lawyer to hand over the final letter to her daughter if she had managed to fulfill all her other goals. Brad didn’t show up for the meeting; instead, his senior, Mr. Sullivan, did. He handed Alex the red envelope that consisted of a letter confirming that Alex was the sole owner of Elizabeth’s house. Alex was overjoyed; she was deeply attached to the house because she believed it was all that was left of her mother.
Did Alex find love?
Alex went home and watched the final DVD her mother had left her. Elizabeth was proud of her daughter, and she knew that Alex would manage to overcome all the hurdles and become the best version of herself. Her only advice to Alex was that she must learn to hold on to the people she loved because love was worth fighting for. At that moment, Alex realized that pushing Brad away was a terrible decision that she had to rectify. There were four questions that her mother believed one must ask before saying yes to a man, and after going through the questions, Alex realized that Brad was the perfect man for her. He was kind; she could speak her mind around him; he always brought out the best version of her, and she could imagine him as the father of her children.
In The Life List’s ending, when Alex showed up in front of his apartment building, Brad assumed that she would propose becoming friends again, but he believed there was no way he could keep his feelings aside and pretend to be friends. But when Alex professed her love for him, he was pleasantly surprised. The family celebrated New Year’s at Elizabeth’s house, and we witnessed Alex and Samuel share a healthy relationship. Even though Elizabeth was not there with them, her children knew she was watching over them, and they were thankful to her for making each of their lives beautiful.
