Title – You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah (2023) 

Director – Sammi Cohen (Crush) 

Cast – Sunny Sandler, Adam Sandler, Idina Menzel, Samantha Lorraine

Plot – In the lead up to her planned epic Bat Mitzvah, soon to be teenager Stacy (Sunny Sandler) has a falling out with her long term BFF Lydia (Lorraine) forcing her to reflect and contemplate her life moving from a child into adulthood.  

“We’re good to go”

Review by Eddie on 06/09/2023

For all intents and purposes Netflix’s latest Adam Sandler collaboration You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah should be one of the years most cringe inducing and intolerable offerings but against the odds this well-intentioned and heartfelt coming of age comedy surprises in its effectiveness, even if it’s undoubtedly light and sugary. 

With the potential to be a nepo baby inspired affair, with the Sandler gang getting to hog the spotlight in a major way here thanks to patriarch Adam and a lead turn from his young daughter Sunny as director Sammi Cohen’s main protagonist Stacy, Mitzvah manages to mostly steer away from the nepo fears to give its audience a likeable bunch of characters that feel relatable and creatively bought to life, helping to produce a modern take on a well worn formula that is sure to be a hit with its target audience. 

Proving to be a talent that looks likely to have a bright future in the film space if she so desires it to be, Sunny Sandler announces herself here with an assured and confident lead turn that sees her Stacy discovering impending adulthood isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as she finds her plans for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah interrupted by young love and a breakdown in her friendship with Samantha Lorraine’s Lydia. 

There’s certainly nothing overly inspired or new about this type of tale, many teen films have followed the same core formula for countless decades to various degrees of success but with a Jewish spin that never turns into self-mocking territory, while also acknowledging the many eccentricities associated to the faith/culture and a nicely dialled back turn from the films adults that let the youngsters take centre-stage, Mitzvah does the traditional with enough of a new spin to make it feel energetic and fun without ever being overly forced or unnatural. 

In his time under the partnership with Netflix Adam Sandler has delivered a wide ranging array of films that mostly skew towards the dumpster fire or forgettable section but with his ability to take a step back from the limelight and let his own flesh and blood hog the spotlight we have on our hands an unexpectedly easy to watch offering that may not make any grand statements but provides a great nights easy going entertainment regardless. 

Final Say – 

An unexpectedly watchable and occasionally sweet offering, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is a likeable Netflix original that suggests the Sandler name will live long in the Hollywood space. 

3 enthusiastic DJ’s out of 5