Although it was made by Adam Sandler’s production company and features Sandler himself in a key supporting role, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is not a typical Adam Sandler movie. Instead, it’s a cute and colorful teen comedy that gives the spotlight to a different Sandler, Adam’s daughter Sunny. She plays Stacy Friedman, a Jewish girl on the verge of her 13th birthday, the time when Jewish tradition dictates that adulthood begins.
For Stacy, her bat mitzvah, the celebration of that rite of passage, is everything, and it’s thrown into chaos when she discovers her best friend Lydia (Samantha Lorraine) hooking up with her longtime crush. Those crushes, friendships, parties and clumsy transitions into adulthood are captured in these five other great teen comedies, perfect for watching on Netflix after You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah.
Superbad
The main characters in Superbad are also Jewish lifelong best friends who question whether they’re meant to remain close at a turning point in their lives. Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) are about to graduate from high school, and they spend one epic night trying to get to a party to meet up with a pair of girls they’re interested in. Along the way they test their friendship, ultimately affirming their platonic love for each other in their uniquely awkward way.
Screenwriters Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg were inspired by their own real-life friendship, and have said that they first started writing the movie in their bar mitzvah class. They mix raunchy humor and ridiculous characters like Christopher Mintz-Plasse’s McLovin with a heartfelt tribute to the bonds of friendship.
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Moxie
Director Amy Poehler’s adaptation of Jennifer Mathieu’s young adult novel mixes youth activism with a coming-of-age story about shifting high school friendships. Hadley Robinson stars as 16-year-old Lisa, who pushes back against a culture of sexism at her school by starting a publication inspired by the feminist zines of the 1990s. Poehler, who also plays Lisa’s mom, celebrates the spirit of the riot-grrl movement while connecting it with modern social justice campaigns.
Moxie is also a fun comedy about a teenage girl who finds her voice, makes new friends, and discovers that her mom was once a cool rebel, too. It fits in a sweet romance and a raucous party, hitting all the important beats of a teen comedy as it delivers its serious, timely message.
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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before
One of the most successful romantic comedies on Netflix has since spawned a movie trilogy and a spin-off TV series (XO, Kitty), all of which are upbeat and endearing. Still, there’s nothing like the original, which stands on its own as a high-concept rom-com and a sensitive story about a teenager figuring out her identity. Lana Condor is charming and likable as introverted 16-year-old Lara Jean Covey, who is mortified to discover that five secret love letters she’s written to her crushes have somehow been sent out.
That public reveal of her private feelings pushes Lara Jean to open up, especially to popular athlete Peter Kavinsky (Noah Centineo). Their romance, which turns from playacting to something real, is passionate and enchanting, but the core of the movie is about Lara Jean asserting her individuality and learning what she really wants in life.
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The Half of It
Two very different teens become unlikely friends in this clever, affecting riff on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac story. Both shy bookworm Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis) and boisterous jock Paul Munsky are smitten with the beautiful Aster Flores (Alexxis Lemire), and Ellie expresses her feelings in love letters she writes on Paul’s behalf.
The potential romance with a girl who is probably unattainable for both of them is less important than the growing bond between Ellie and Paul, both of whom are more complex than their surface high school stereotypes would indicate. Like You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, The Half of It is a reminder that while crushes may come and go, friendship is often much more rewarding and long-lasting.
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Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
There are a lot of goofy antics in this John Hughes classic about a slacker who goes to elaborate lengths to ditch school along with his girlfriend and his best friend, but it’s about more than just endlessly quotable jokes. People remember the title character (Matthew Broderick) dancing on a parade float, scamming his way into a fancy restaurant, or thwarting his nemesis, high school principal Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones).
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a consistently funny movie from legendary teen-comedy filmmaker Hughes, but it also carries an undercurrent of melancholy courtesy of Ferris’ glum best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck). Ferris is the kind of guy who can get away with pretty much anything, but when the anxious Cameron finally decides to stand up to his overbearing father, that’s the movie’s real triumph.
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