Credit: Netflix

Netflix subscribers had been eyeing the Sunny Sandler comedy Don’t Say Good Luck for several months. But now that it’s here, the audience doesn’t seem quite as ready for the emotional rollercoaster ride the film really is.

Directed by Julia Hart, Sandler stars as Sophie Birenbaum, a timid high school sophomore, in the Netflix movie that just debuted with a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, who unexpectedly lands the lead role in her school play of Waitress, despite only hoping for a supporting role.

While the news is big enough to send Sophie over the moon, life, unfortunately, is rarely so kind. The very day she lands the role of Jenna, she discovers that her mother, Elizabeth, has had her cancer return. Talk about cruel timing!

Although Sophie had always hoped that theatre would bring her the confidence she lacks, it all becomes a reality when she actually wishes to crawl indoors due to overwhelming grief at the back of her mind. She initially considers walking away from the role, but doesn’t, ultimately finding her temporary escape in those rehearsals. However, does the escape help? What finally happens to her mom?

What happens to Sophie’s mom in Don’t Say Good Luck?

When viewers meet Sophie in Don’t Say Good Luck on Netflix, she clearly has a lot on her plate. With Elizabeth’s cancer back, there’s a constant uncertainty plaguing the movie, no matter what sequence is on. Although Sophie learns about her mother’s health during a big break, despite her initial hesitance, the rehearsals become a part of her everyday life she looks forward to.

While rehearsing, Sophie deals with the awkward business of acting romantic arcs with the boy she already has a crush on. And the chemistry alone is a reminder that everything that follows is teenage-appropriate. Of course, the family crisis is a little too difficult for anyone, let alone a teenager. Thankfully, Don’t Say Good Luck doesn’t strip away the innocence and charm despite the cancer news hovering over like dark clouds at all times.

Sophie clearly has to tackle things that can easily make her forget the light-heartedness of her age. But besides her repeated assurance that she’s just a teen, it is Elizabeth who ensures that her sickness doesn’t become the reason her daughter misses out on childhood. As a result, even when Elizabeth falls terribly sick, she encourages Sophie to continue the rehearsals, explaining that her happy experiences don’t need a routine reality check into her mother’s health.

Although that’s bound to leave viewers curious about whether Elizabeth lives, the answer is that she doesn’t die before the curtains are pulled on Don’t Say Good Luck. That said, she doesn’t find a miraculous cure overnight either. By the time spectators bid their goodbyes, Elizabeth’s condition is pretty severe, but no one knows what her future holds.

The Netflix comedy doesn’t make Sophie’s opening night, where she sings ‘She Used to Be Mine’, the end of Elizabeth’s. But it ends with bittersweet applause from her mom in an empty auditorium, which fans are open to reading between the lines.