I’ll admit it up front: I’m a sucker for a good coming-of-age movie, and this one is adorable. The story centers on Sophie, a girl growing up in a home full of love. Then her mother’s cancer relapses. That news doesn’t flatten the warmth. It sharpens it.
What I liked most is how careful the movie is with all of it. It could have leaned hard into the tears. Instead it stays subtle, quietly honoring what this family already survived the first time around. This is a home that appreciates life, and the film knows that isn’t true of every home. It treats that with quiet respect.
Sophie’s parents try to keep things quiet while pushing her toward a role in the high school musical. That’s the heart of it. They love their kid so much they want her chasing the good stuff, even while they carry the hard stuff. It’s precious without tipping into the cheesy.
The music got me. The film pulls from the Broadway show Waitress, and it uses Sophie’s voice smartly. Early on she sings a little timid, and you honestly aren’t sure how much she has in her. Then a couple of numbers hit and her soul just spills out. Those moments are genuinely warming.
Is it perfect? No. This won’t win any awards, and you won’t be quoting it to friends for years. But it does what it sets out to do, and it does it with a light, honest touch.
If a gentle family story about love, loss, and finding your voice sounds like your thing, give it a watch.
See Don’t Say Good Luck on TMDB
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