The Daily Stream: Everything's Gonna Be Okay Is Feel-Good TV For Grown-Ups

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Series: "Everything's Gonna Be Okay"

Where You Can Stream It: Hulu

The Pitch: Gay Australian twenty-something Nicholas (Josh Thomas) makes an unexpected move to Los Angeles when he learns his father is terminally ill. Soon, he has to take on the responsibility of raising two teenage half-sisters: painfully shy Genevieve (Maeve Press) and confident, autistic Matilda (Kayla Cromer). Nicholas is a carefree, impulsive caretaker who hasn't quite grown up yet himself, and his partner Alex (Adam Faison) often tries to talk the family down from moments of chaos. The premise might be heavy, but for the most part, this is actually a light-on-its-feet comedy.

Thomas, who previously made the frank and emotional coming-of-age series "Please Like Me," serves as creator, writer, and star of the series. The show ran for two seasons on Freeform but was canceled in summer 2021 after airing just 20 episodes in total. Over the course of the short series, Matilda graduates from high school, explores her sexuality, and makes several nerve-wracking, major life decisions. Meanwhile, Genevieve begins to come out of her shell, and Nicholas finds a new label for himself that he never expected.

Josh Thomas is a genius when it comes to emotionally honest storytelling. "Everything's Gonna Be Okay" zooms in on the intangible feelings that often define adolescence — from paralyzing anxiety to uncontrollable impulsiveness and a frustrating lack of understanding — and reminds us that it's okay if those feelings never really go away. The premise of the series might sound cutesy, but like reality, it plays out as something messier and more boundary-less.

There's never really anyone in control of the siblings' oversized family home, but most of the time, that feels okay, too. The kids and adults are a lively collaborative force, humoring each others' ideas and working through their grief and growth together. "Everything's Gonna Be Okay" is kindred spirits with another freewheeling LA-home-set series, Pamela Adlon's always-excellent "Better Things." Both are focused on unorthodox, disagreement-prone families, but both shows also practically vibrate with the genuine love their characters hold for one another.

Nicholas is also a winning protagonist. He's charming, neurotic, melodramatic, and funny as hell. He squeals with laughter during inappropriate moments and says nearly every thought that pops into his head. He's at once affable and eye-rolling, and in the second season, pandemic quarantine heightens his every over-the-top trait. Thomas is much-lauded as a writer, but his performances tend to be more overlooked, and they shouldn't be. He's utterly dynamic, able to shift from silliness to seriousness and back again with a presence that feels completely natural.

If "Everything's Gonna Be Okay" gets a paragraph in the TV history books, it'll be for its loving and detailed portrayal of autism. Cromer is among the first openly autistic actors to play a main character in a series, and her Matilda is a joy. Stubborn, clever, and unabashedly selfish, Matilda is a force to be reckoned with. She can't be talked out of anything, from applying to Julliard to having a casual threesome with her neurodivergent classmates. By the series' end, Cromer is one of several autistic actors in the show representing the diversity of experiences on the spectrum.

"Everything Is Gonna Be Okay" is feel-good entertainment for grown-ups, and there's not enough of that. It stays true to itself until the end and is a shining light of a series for anyone who takes the time to seek it out.