It's a good year to be a girl at the movies. August's "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah," directed by Sammi Cohen from a script by Alison Peck, first got attention because it stars Adam Sandler's daughters, Sunny and Sadie. Sunny plays Stacy, our lead, who has the perfect vision for her Bat Mitzvah. Sadie plays older sister Ronnie, and Adam and Idina Menzel play their parents.
But Stacy's single-minded focus on the perfect bat mitzvah — which includes having her crush on her arm at the party — tears her apart from her best friend Lydia (Samantha Lorraine), leaving both girls to struggle with the indignities of middle school on their own. "You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah" is not afraid to lean into those indignities — the truly gross moments that can make adolescence so, so painful. And ultimately, the friendship between Sunny and Lydia feels deep and earned; I fully cried at the end of the film.
