You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah review: This teen dramedy is all about the Sandlers

You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah review: This teen dramedy is all about the Sandlers

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Story
Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler) is preparing for her bat mitzvah, which, for her, is one of the most important events of her young life. Everything is happy and rosy until she finds her best friend, Lydia Katz (Samantha Lorraine), kissing her crush, Andy Goldfarb (Dylan Hoffman). A hurt and shaken Stacey uninvites Lydia from her bat mitzvah. Will the former besties go back to being BFFs?

Review
Stacy and Lydia are regular 12-year-old girls on the cusp of womanhood, thanks to their soon-to-be held bat mitzvahs. The planning of an epic bat mitzvah dominates Stacy’s life and even that of her BFF Lydia, who is doing most of the planning for it alongside Stacy.

Not among the most popular girls in school, Stacy has such a big crush on Andy that she literally jumps off a cliff to impress him. So, what happens when Lydia, whom she's imagined living next to when they grow up, ends up making out with him? And whatever will happen to her bat mitzvah, the biggest and most important event of her life that will transform her into a woman?

Stacy and Lydia take you on the rollercoaster and hormone-filled ride that being a 13-year-old is all about. Don’t expect any surprises, though. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is a movie about teenagers, the ups and downs of their lives that are completely dominated by TikTok (how long does it take to become a social media influencer?), ‘epic’ events that are life changing (like throwing the best bat mitzvah), crushes, friendships that you think will last a lifetime, and betrayal that seems worse than what Brutus did to Caesar.

But it is just this: the film does not expose you to any other parts of a teenager’s life and stays restricted to what one has seen a thousand other American teenagers go through, albeit from a Jewish perspective.

There are some scenes in which it seems like the makers are trying just a little too hard to evoke laughs, but there are other genuinely funny moments.

While not everyone takes kindly to nepotism, Sadie Sandler and Sunny Sandler do complete justice to their roles. Their scenes with a rather subdued Adam Sandler are fun to watch, and their chemistry is also great.

The supporting cast adds value to the film and lifts it up at most times. Sadie, as Stacy’s elder sister Ronnie, is especially pleasant to watch since she is the kind of big sister that every girl wishes she had, but not in an unreal way. Stacy and Ronnie do quibble, as all siblings do, but Ronnie is always in her corner.

Verdict
Adam Sandler has had some hits and misses as far as his Netflix films go. While Hustle got a thumbs up, Murder Mystery can easily be skipped. You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is somewhere in the middle. This is a film that is about the Sandlers and puts them upfront and in focus. And this is not entirely a bad thing, since the performance of the Sandler clan is rather impressive. Watch You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah if teen films are your cup of tea.

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