Netflix's #2 Movie With 94% on RT Is One of the Most Heartbreaking Dramas of the Year
It's a touching and honest story about growing up, family, and loss.
Netflix has released Don't Say Good Luck directed by Julia Hart. It's the latest collaboration between Netflix and Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions. This partnership has recently produced movies like Happy Gilmore 2.
Given this, it was natural to expect something similar from Don't Say Good Luck. However, Hart has crafted a truly sincere flick that avoids excessive sentimentality.
What Is 'Don't Say Good Luck' About?
High school senior Sophie is preparing to audition for a role in the musical Waitress. She expects to play a supporting role but unexpectedly gets the opportunity to play the lead. However, her joy is tempered by family circumstances: her mother has relapsed with cancer.
Sophie finds out by accident when her father accidentally dials her number and she overhears her parents crying. From that moment on, she walks on shaky ground as she balances tense family evenings and grueling rehearsals.
Escaping into her role helps Sophie bond with her mother. Elizabeth shares memories of expecting a child and watches her daughter with rapture.
'Don't Say Good Luck' Is a Sensitive Film That Manages to Avoid Excessive Sentimentality
Movies about serious illnesses often rely heavily on emotional depth – it can be challenging for directors to portray farewells to loved ones without using angst-inducing background music. However, Julia Hart touches viewers without overdoing it with sentimentality.
She leaves the nervousness in the doctor's office, the need for serious conversations with children, and the hardships of treatment off-screen. Instead, she tenderly captures how a high school student navigates family drama and typical teenage problems.
True to the genre, the film immerses its heroine in a plethora of common adolescent experiences, however, the mother-daughter relationship becomes the foundation of the narrative. The interaction between Sophie and Elizabeth conveys the searing pain of impending loss without words.
'Don't Say Good Luck' Offers the Healing Power of Art
Don't Say Good Luck is a movie that could easily have fallen into overly sentimental territory, but Hart avoids that trap.
The topic of strong family ties is seamlessly interwoven with the challenges of growing up and a passage about the healing power of art accompanies the theme of facing death.
The result is a sensitive dramedy that, like its main character, doesn't always hit the right notes but evokes heartbreak. While Don't Say Good Luck offers nothing fundamentally new, it will make you want to call your mom one more time.
What Did Critics & Viewers Think of 'Don't Say Good Luck'?
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Don't Say Good Luck has 94% from critics and 84% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
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On IMDb, the movie has a score of 6.8/10.
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On Letterboxd, Don't Say Good Luck scored 3.4/5.0.
