You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah Early Review

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is primarily aimed towards teenage girls yet it’s the rare family comedy that the whole family can watch and get something out of. Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler) and Lydia Rodriguez Katz (Samantha Lorraine) are best friends who have always planned to have epic bat mitzvahs. Everything changes and begins to go hilariously awry once Lydia ends up dating the boy Stacy has long had a crush on. If the premise may sound familiar, that’s because it is and thankfully it knows that and doesn’t try to be anything more than it is. Instead of feeling like a copy of similar classic coming-of-age films, it feels more like its paying a loving homage and respect to the genre as a whole.

A big reason why the film is as successful and enjoyable as it is, is because of Sunny Sandler’s incredibly strong performance as Stacy. Showing future major star potential, she carries her first lead role with ease. Sandler sells Stacy’s comedic and dramatic moments, making for a relatable protagonist who many will likely see their younger selves in. Lorraine is just as great as Lydia and the two share strong chemistry through their characters’ ups and downs. Adam Sandler is in total dad mode here as Danny Friedman and despite spending most of his time the background, showing up when he needs to and stealing those scenes in the process. It’s nice seeing he and Menzel back as a married couple on film again while the latter is another major standout as Stacy’s mom Bree, providing some of the film’s funniest and most heartfelt moments. It’s also objectively hilarious that Adam cast his real-life daughters to portray his movie daughters here meanwhile his real-life wife is cast yet again as someone totally unrelated.

Though the film may not be anything groundbreaking or original, it’s honestly refreshing with how good of a job it does at putting audiences in its lead characters shoes and making them feel everything’s they are feeling from their highs to their lows. It also accurately presents what a friendship falling out at that age would look like following the initial incident to set it off. The film also benefits from a great soundtrack full of catchy modern songs that you’ll instantly recognize, and a big heart that it wears proudly on its sleeve throughout. Even though it will inevitably yet unfairly be compared to Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, it’s nice to see filmmakers starting to tackle more female coming-of-age stories like this that are unique and standout from one another.

Despite boasting a very familiar premise and similar themes that have been done to death before in countless other coming of age films, the film is still a highly-enjoyable watch. Unfortunately, that familiarity also makes it a fairly predictable one which shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise but thankfully, that fact doesn’t take too much away from the experience. In the end, You Are So Not Invited to my Bat Mitzvah is one of the more pleasant surprises this summer and is definitely worth a watch this weekend.

While its premise and title might not be the most appealing on paper, there’s so much to enjoy in a rare modern-day film suitable for the whole family. With only two features under her belt, director Sammi Cohen has already proven herself to be a master of the coming-of-age genre.

still courtesy of Netflix

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/