In recent weeks, Netflix has seen many films enter their top ten for films to watch, but it doesn’t get much better than “You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah,” which was released August 25th on Netflix. The film stars Adam Sandler as Danny Friedman, the father to his on and off-screen daughters, Sunny Sandler as Stacy Friedman and Sadie Sandler as Ronnie Friedman. This film revolves around Sunnyas Stacy and her co-star Samantha Lorraine as Lydia Rodriguez. Stacy and Lydia are best friends and have had one thing on their minds since they were little kids: their Bat Mitzvah. A Bat Mitzvah is a Jewish tradition that celebrates a young teenager’s journey into adulthood and Judaism. For best friends Stacy and Rodriguez, this is extremely important to them.
Both girls are in middle school and go through many things like any average middle schooler. Growing up, friendships, relationships and peer pressure from others are all the main challenges they face. Stacy and Rodriguez struggle in this film because their Bat Mitzvah is all about going into adulthood. For these girls, this Bat Mitzvah is the first day of their adult life and who they will become. For Stacy, it is all about fitting in, being accepted by the “cooler” kids at school and having the best Bat Mitzvah of all time. Stacy succumbs to peer pressure to impress the “cool” kids and her crush, leading to many challenges in her relationship with Rodriguez and the planning of her Bat Mitzvah. Through these challenges, Stacy grows as an adult through the eyes of the audience as she takes full responsibility for her mistakes and owns up to them. This leads her to do the “adult thing” and mend her relationship with Rodriguez.
Sunny performs well as a middle schooler dealing with friendships, relationships and peer pressure. Sunny’s funny, outgoing and emotional performance captures the audience’s eye. Sadie, who plays the older sister Ronnie in this film, puts on a comedic performance. Just like her father, Adam, who plays their father, Danny, features as the comedic relief. Sadie is sometimes comical and blunt but is the perfect, tougher older sister of the Friedman household.
“You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah” can be relatable to not only middle schoolers, but also Jewish kids planning their own Bat Mitzvah. The film is a feel-good and family-friendly film because it is so relatable to kids coming of age. It also teaches responsibility, how to handle relationships and what comes with going into adulthood. This film will make you laugh but also make you emotional even if you are watching as an adult. This film is a lesson in showing not to let something that can be controlled ruin relationships between friends and family.
