Happiest girl in the worldThe ending brings a satisfying conclusion to the main character’s turbulent journey through trauma. Adapted from Jessica Knoll’s debut novel, Happiest girl in the world focuses his story on Ani (played by Ted‘s Mila Kunis), a New York journalist whose life is eroding under the weight of her past trauma. While unraveling Ani’s story, Happiest girl in the world deliberately shrouds many elements of her past in mystery, revealing only fabrications of the traumatic event that shapes her present reality.
These elements all come together towards the end when Happiest girl in the world finally reveals why Ani goes out of her way to create a perfect and controlled gift for herself. The last act forces her to destroy this facade of perfection and gives her a new sense of direction that is far more fulfilling and liberating than her previous trauma-driven life. Ani goes through a test of fire during the runtime of Netflix’s psychological thriller, but eventually gains the courage and will to rise above her past and make provisions for a brighter future.
Happiest girl in the worldThe story is simple, but Ani’s flashbacks are deliberately presented as pieces of a large puzzle that only connect at the end of the film. While this creates enough intrigue and suspense to keep you hooked, it complicates certain aspects of Ani’s storyline. With that in mind, here’s a detailed breakdown of: Happiest girl in the world‘s end and all the important moments leading up to it.
Ani’s traumatic flashbacks explained
Happiest girl in the world moves back and forth between Ani’s current and past timelines to highlight how she relives her trauma over and over as she tries to suppress her memories in order to gain complete control over her life. Her past finally catches up with her when an independent director of true documentaries asks her to tell about a school shooting she survived as a teenager and explain why she was accused of being complicit in the shooting. As Ani gradually confronts her past, little bits and pieces of her backstory reveal that she was sexually assaulted by three boys at a party during her sophomore year a few days before the school shooting. When she tried to talk about it with the school authorities, she was silenced because one of the boys, Dean, belonged to a powerful family. Ani also tried to tell her mother about it, but much to her dismay, her mother also turned a blind eye and blamed her instead.
After feeling frustrated with the unfair politics that divide students at their school, two boys, including Ani’s friend Arthur (played by Thomas Barbusca from the Mick season 1) — organizing a school shooting. Two of the three boys who had previously raped Ani are killed in the shooting. As the final nail in the coffin for his plan, Arthur shoots Dean in the leg and asks Ani to get revenge by getting the job done. As much as Ani hates Dean, she is unable to do it and stabs Arthur instead. Though Ani literally saves his life, Dean claims a story where Ani was allegedly complicit in the school shooting. By doing so, he avoids being accused of raping her and also wins everyone’s sympathy for his lifelong leg injury. Through this traumatic experience, Mila Kunis’ character changes her name from TifAni to Ani to take on a new identity – until her past haunts her.
As an aside, the film is based in part on the true story of the source material’s author, Jessica Knoll (via New York times). The author initially wrote down the story of the book as a fictional story without revealing the truth that inspired it. In 2016, she revealed that the portrayal of gang rape in her novel was based on her own high school experience, when she was attacked by three boys at a party. “I want to make people feel that they can talk about it, that they don’t have to be ashamed of it,‘ she was quoted as saying in an interview, emphasizing why she was candid about the reality of the darker elements of her novel.
Did Ani tell the truth about the school shooting?
For a long time, Ani dodges questions about the school shooting and never confronts Dean’s false story. However, when her life starts to spiral out of control, she decides all the lies from Dean (played by Alex Barone of the Hulu’s cast). Dopessick) has been selling for years. Dean blackmails her by claiming that if she retracts her rape allegation, he will deny her involvement in the school shooting. Dean doesn’t realize that Ani is prepared and has recorded their conversation. Finally, Ani stands up for herself and uses the recording to prove that she is telling the truth about the school shooting and her traumatic experiences that preceded it. By doing this, she not only empowers herself, but also finds the right voice to empower others who are struggling to share their “truths.“
Why Ani Finally Confronts Dean
The fear of being accused and caught keeps Ani from telling her the truth. When she realizes that her mother, Dina (played by Connie Britton from Promising young woman‘s cast), is not on her side and her teacher, Andrew, was banned just for supporting her, she goes on to hide the truth and keep it all to herself. Over time, she conditions herself not to talk about it, even though her trauma keeps resurfacing and reminding her of the past. Even when Dean shows up during her interview with the true crime director, she runs away instead of looking at him.
A defining moment that makes Ani rethink her life decisions is when she meets the high school teacher who had supported her. Although they hang out briefly, Ani proudly tells Andrew (played by Scoot McNairy from the cast of Netflix’s blond) that she got a job at The New York Times, but she understands deep down that she may never take the job unless she changes certain things. With her past rapidly catching up with her, Ani realizes that the only way to regain control of her life is to face her trauma instead of running from it. This encourages her to not only go against Dean, but also expose him.
Why Ani Breaks Up With Luke
As much as Ani wants to be with Luke, breaking up with him becomes her only choice when he gets in the way of starting over. For most of her life she lives in the shadow of other people’s stories and decisions about what she should do. When Luke (played by Finn Wittrock from Deep water‘s cast) and his family seem to struggle with her opening up about her harrowing past and the traumatic impact on her life, she decides to end her relationship with Luke and chooses to stay in New York City to write. in front of The New York Times instead of moving to London with him. By doing so, she completely closes a long troubling chapter of her life and starts a new one on her own terms.
What the end of the happiest girl in the world means for Ani
Ani’s graduation from writing sexually appealing content for a male audience to writing her own story in The New York Times serves as a tipping point in her rite of passage. It shows that she has come a long way from being the people-pleaser she used to be and now putting her own decisions above those of others. This is further cemented in the final scene where a woman attacks Ani (played by That show from the 90s‘s Mila Kunis) by claiming that her story gives her nothing but “fifteen minutes of fame‘, but she proudly stands her ground rather than allowing her to silence her.
Happiest girl in the worldThe ending finds that after deciding not to keep her story a secret, Ani has finally cleared the way for herself to heal and found a new purpose to write for those who feel silenced like her. As revealed by Happiest girl in the world‘s author Jessica Knoll (via EW), the film’s ending is somewhat meta in that while it tells the story of a fictional character, it’s not too far removed from her own real-life experiences. Like Ani, Jessica Knoll also received encouraging comments from many women after she published her book and essay.
