‘Doing Life’ (2026) Netflix Movie Review - Tyler Perry's Overstuffed, Awkward Drama

Multiple movies exist within Tyler Perry's Doing Life. One of them deals with a woman coping with a sexual assault at her workplace. Another follows a woman struggling to get a loan so she can pursue her nursing career. There is a love story between a single mother and an inmate, and this romance is severely tested in a society tainted by preconceived notions. Look closely, and there is also a family drama about a sick mother and her daughters, with one of them turning out to be a scheming, selfish manipulator. Finally, there is a movie about an artist whose paintings are stolen and who has to fight tooth and nail to get both recognition and compensation. A good director could pick any one of these storylines and create a decent, if not exceptional, drama with plenty of heart and tender sentiment. Perry, though, is not a good director. He wants to offer you multiple films at the price of one because...why not? It doesn't seem as if he wants to leave a lasting impression on you anyway. His primary aim is to somehow keep his story moving so that audiences can have some ambient noise around them.

Anyone familiar with Perry's work would be wise not to expect things like "sturdiness," "craftsmanship," or "greatness." This is why the best way, or perhaps the only way, to "enjoy" a Tyler Perry movie would be to get so intoxicated that you are unable to distinguish between the sofa and the kitchen. Maybe then you could pass the time laughing at Doing Life's awkwardness and ineptness instead of being bothered by them. Perry isn't able to get something as essential as the chemistry between his leads right. Playing Anika and Carousel, Naomi Baker and Jay Reeves seem completely stifled. There are odd pauses between them, as if they were not properly informed about their cues or had not been given enough time to rehearse. When Carousel first meets Anika outside the prison without telling her that he has been released and that he is planning to come and talk to her, you naturally expect Anika to be taken aback by his sudden appearance. But the way she reacts suggests confusion along the lines of, "What were my dialogues? Let me quickly remember them," rather than surprise along the lines of, "What are you doing here?!" Baker and Reeves, more often than not, behave like actors being fed their cues and lines through an earpiece in real time. They look like deer freezing in front of headlights rather than characters slowly and steadily getting comfortable with each other.

At Carousel's supervisor's house, over dinner, Carousel and Anika say they are not lovers, just friends. The supervisor and his wife smile and shake their heads, and he says, "That's not the energy I am picking here." He is right in a way, even though what he means is that he believes they are in fact a couple. Anika and Carousel exude a different energy, and it indicates, "I am not really sure what tone the director exactly is going for here." The problem extends to the other cast members as well. When Cathy (Tamberla Perry), Anika's mom, refers to Carousel as "Convict," are we meant to see this as an expression of her hatred towards this man, or are we supposed to smile at the sight of her sour face as she spits out this c-word like a five-year-old kid calling someone names with a pout on her face just because someone snatched her favorite toy from her hands? Then there are the laughable excuses that Perry comes up with to generate conflicts, such as having Carousel knock on Anika's door when she is with her mother and sisters just so that he can inform her that his phone is broken. Dude, you know she lives with her mother and that she is dating you secretly without telling her family members. You could have applied your "lawyer brain" to the circumstances and come up with a more logical way to tell her about your broken phone. Here is a suggestion: you could have talked to her at, I don't know, her workplace!

Oh, this reminds me that Carousel, apart from being a painter, is also pretty good at all the lawyer stuff. Good for him, I guess. Perhaps he can sue Perry for feeding us brainrot content. Because after watching something like Doing Life, you might feel like doing nothing out of sheer tiredness or indifference. Now excuse me as I make my way towards the sofa, which I have kept in the kitchen. Something tells me I am growing as vacuous as these Tyler Perry productions. Enough said.