Don’t Say Good Luck, from director Julia Hart, delivers a tender and emotional coming-of-age story centering a teenager grappling with typical high school woes and her mother’s illness. This film weaves the various challenges she faces with a delicate hand, making the audience laugh and cry from scene to scene.
Sunny Sandler, who plays the protagonist Sophie Birenbaum, showcases a powerful performance full of longing and grief. Melanie Lynskey plays her mother, Elizabeth, who faces a life-threatening illness but continues to support her family despite it.
The film starts on the morning of Sophie’s audition for the school musical, Waitress. We see a typical morning for the Birenbaums: Elizabeth goes to wake up Sophie’s younger twin brothers, who are then wrangled and prepped for school by their dad, Ted, played by Max Greenfield. Sophie is nervous for her audition, but she manages to perform an emotional rendition of one of the musical’s songs, unexpectedly earning her the lead role of Jenna.
The film manages to capture the buzz of nerves and excitement that surrounds high school theater, showing the teens warming up and listening in anticipation to their theater teacher, Ms. Parker, played by Stephanie Beatriz. Ms. Parker acts as a confidante and cheerleader for Sophie, who often doubts her ability to play such a deeply emotional role.
There is an attempt at drawing parallels between the musical and the plot of the film itself. Waitress involves the main character getting pregnant, and Ms. Parker encourages Sophie to get in touch with her character by asking her mom about when she was pregnant with Sophie. It makes for a heart-wrenching dynamic between the two of them, especially knowing the time they have together is short.
Elizabeth doesn’t let her diagnosis stop her from planning future family trips and supporting her daughter with the musical. There is a funny yet touching scene in which Sophie and her mom go to the mall so that they can practice speaking in a Southern accent after Sophie complains that her accent will never be good enough as everyone else’s in the play.
The film spends time establishing the close relationship between Sophie and her mother. This film does not lean into melodrama, but rather, moments of joy and sorrow and given equal weight backed by incredible performances from the cast. There are a few montages scored by some of the songs from Waitress, allowing a peek into Sophie’s time spent rehearsing for the musical contrasted with the struggle of her parents trying to keep everything together.
On top of the news of her mother, Sophie deals with run-of-the-mill teenage obstacles, like her best friend growing distant and crushing on her co-star. This film does not shy away from emotional moments but does not dwell in them either. There is a clear balance between humor and drama that was remarkably achieved by the script.
I can’t praise Sunny Sandler enough for her work in this role, and I’m genuinely looking forward to what she does in the future. This film drives forward with a pleasant, familiar pace that reminds the audience that despite it all, life goes on. Messy, complicated, and joyous; life goes on.
For KSQD’s Film Gang: Isa Cortez.