Story
Best friends, Stacy Friedman (Sunny Sandler) and Lydia Katz Rodriguez (Samantha Lorraine), are planning the parties they have been waiting for their whole lives – their Bat Mitzvahs. But as the pair prepare to kick off adulthood, they are faced with all kinds of teenage high school drama.
In Jewish law, the Mitzvah must accompany the coming-of-age celebrations, but Stacy finds herself too caught up in her social life to work on her Mitzvah project. When all hope is lost, Stacy knows exactly what she has to do to fix the situation and realign her faith and desire to have the iconic adult life.
Themes
Coming of age; culture and religion; friendship, betrayal; drama
Violence
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah has some violence. For example:
- Battling with foam battle sticks.
- Stacy and her older sister, Ronnie (Sadie Sandler), argue. Stacy says, ‘I’ll kill you Ronnie’, and Ronnie replies, ‘Not if I stab you first’.
- In a movie playing on Ronnie’s mobile phone, there’s a man holding a knife to another man’s throat.
Sexual references
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah has some sexual references. For example:
- Stacy imagines a kiss between herself and her crush Andy, but the kiss itself is not shown.
- Stacy’s mum tells her she looks like a stripper with heels on.
- Several scenes show teenagers kissing.
- ‘Under-boob’ touching is mentioned.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah has some substance use. For example:
- At parties adults drink alcohol and have ‘shots’. A parent gives older teenagers ‘shots’ which they drink.
- Adults are intoxicated.
Nudity and sexual activity
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah has some nudity and sexual activity. For example, Stacy stands in front of a mirror in a short dress, posing, pouting and attempting to take a sexy photo of herself.
Product placement
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah has some product placement. For example, Twizzlers and M&Ms.
Coarse language
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah has some coarse language and name-calling.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Based on the 2005 young adult novel by the same name, You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is a Jewish coming-of-age story. The high school-based drama portrays the struggles of female teenagers facing their Bat Mitzvahs, while also addressing the often awkwardness of the teenage years, including navigating friendships, crushes, social media, and parents. The movie is likely to appeal to people in the Jewish community, teens and older audiences, and parents of teens.
The main message from You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah is that following your faith will ultimately lead you to fulfilling your religious duty.
Values in You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah that you could reinforce with your children are religion, friendship, honesty, selflessness, and belonging.
You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah could also give you the chance to talk with your children about real-life issues like these:
- friendship issues
- betrayal
- peer pressure
- loss of faith
- use of social media.