"Don't Say Good Luck," a new Netflix release from director Julia Hart and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions, centers on Sophie (Sunny Sandler), a high school sophomore who has landed the lead role in her school's production of the Broadway musical "Waitress." Her success comes as her mother Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey) learns that her cancer has returned with a worse prognosis.
Sophie must navigate the demands of her new theatrical responsibility while grappling with her family's health crisis. Her relationship with her best friend Carolyn (Scarlett Estevez) strains under the pressure, and the emotional toll of her mother's illness makes it increasingly difficult for her to leave her troubles at the stage door.
The film, co-written by Hart and producer Jordan Horowitz with story by Laura Hankin, avoids the typical medical-consultation scenes found in similar stories, instead focusing on the intimate domestic dynamics of the family as Elizabeth plans for her children's future. Elizabeth's husband Ted (Max Greenfield), her co-star in the school musical Jack (Jack Champion), and her maternal grandmother Linda (Bebe Neuwirth) round out Sophie's world.
Lynskey and Sandler deliver emotionally grounded performances that carry the film's heavier moments. Sandler's vocals during the musical numbers are intentionally imperfect, Hart providing her with a full musical sequence featuring Sara Bareilles' "She Used to Be Mine" at a climactic moment in the story.
