REVIEW: “Don’t Say Good Luck”
Courtesy of Netflix
At first, Don’t Say Good Luck seems like a typical high school movie about a teenager juggling family, friendships, young love, and theater. But as the story unfolds, it quickly becomes clear that the movie goes much deeper. It’s a warm, funny, and surprisingly tender look at growing up and facing the hard truth that the people you love most won’t always be there.
The movie follows Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler), a high school drama student who lands the dream lead role in her school’s production of Waitress. It should be a high point in her young life, but outside the theater, things are on the verge of unraveling. Her mom, Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey), is dealing with cancer that has come back after being in remission. This leaves Sophie caught between enjoying her best moments and preparing for the difficult times ahead.
Sandler is pretty terrific here. There’s such a natural feel to her performance, making Sophie immediately believable and easy to root for. What’s really impressive is how naturally Sandler captures the messy reality of being a teenager: the awkwardness, the self-centered moments, the sudden swings between excitement and fear, all without it ever seeming forced. One moment Sophie is acting mature beyond her years, and the next she’s reacting like a little kid, and Sandler nails how both can be true at the same time.
Lynskey is excellent, as always. It would have been easy for Elizabeth to become just another classic “sick mom” character, only existing to help foster Sophie’s personal growth. Instead, Lynskey makes her feel like a real human being. She’s funny, loving, stubborn, and scared, radiating a natural warmth in every scene she’s in. She isn’t shown as a saint or a martyr; she’s simply a mom who loves her life and wants to keep living it for as long as she possibly can.
The bond between Lynskey and Sandler is strong, which matters because Sophie and Elizabeth’s relationship is the movie’s emotional center. Their scenes together always feel genuine. You can feel the deep affection, the everyday irritation, the shared humor, and years of history between them. So when Don’t Say Good Luck finally delivers its emotional moments, it hits you like a ton of bricks because the movie has truly earned them.
That same attention is given to the rest of Sophie’s family. Max Greenfield, as her dad, balances laid-back charm with the quiet fear of a husband facing something terrible. Steve Buscemi is great as her warm, doting grandfather, and Bebe Neuwirth plays her no-nonsense grandmother, whose coldness hides real concern for her daughter. Even when these characters are hovering around the edges, the actors make them feel important. You get the sense that each member of this family is committed to showing up for Sophie while dealing with a shared heartbreak in their own distinct way.
Director Julia Hart, who co-wrote the script with her husband Jordan Horowitz and novelist Laura Hankin, has always had a genuine feel for intimate, genuinely human, slice-of-life stories. That touch runs through Don’t Say Good Luck. Many modern movies shy away from sincerity, probably because earnestness can easily slide into schmaltz, but Hart embraces it head-on. She clearly cares about her characters and all the small moments in their lives. In a lesser director’s hands, this story could have become maudlin or mawkish, but Hart keeps it grounded by making every emotion feel real and deserved.
Even the choice of Waitress as the school musical proves surprisingly inspired. It isn’t just a well-known Broadway show randomly picked for Sophie and her classmates to perform. Hart cleverly weaves its songs and themes right into the fabric of Sophie’s story, letting the music reflect her emotional journey. The stage becomes a safe place where Sophie can begin to process feelings she can’t yet put into words.
At times, Don’t Say Good Luck falls back on familiar high school movie clichés, and some of the teen subplots could have used a bit more room to breathe. These routine moments keep the movie from being truly great. Still, a few predictable tropes don’t matter much when a movie cares this deeply about the story it’s telling. Don’t Say Good Luck knows exactly how to touch your heart without ever overdoing it. Every tear feels earned because the journey is full of real laughter, awkward moments, and genuine affection.
In the end, that’s what makes the movie so effective. Don’t Say Good Luck isn’t really about dying; it’s about learning how to keep living when you know loss is coming. It understands that happiness and sadness can share the same space and that growing up means accepting that nothing, not childhood or even the people who seem permanent, lasts forever. Hart could have made a typical tearjerker, but instead, she made something much rarer: a truly moving movie that earns its tears and has something real to say.
Don’t Say Good Luck is currently available to stream on Netflix.