Sunny Sandler, the youngest child of Adam Sandler, is being hailed by critics for her “lovely” performance in Netflix’s new coming-of-age dramedy Don’t Say Good Luck.

The upcoming film, inspired by director Julia Hart’s childhood, marks the first major lead role for 17-year-old Sunny. She stars as high school theater kid Sophie, whose life is thrown into chaos when she lands the lead role in her school’s musical, just as she learns that her mother’s cancer has returned. Melanie Lynskey and Max Greenfield portray Sophie’s parents; Steve Buscemi plays her grandfather.

In early critical reviews, Sunny has been lauded for delivering a genuine and emotional performance that many have found complements Lynskey’s.

IndieWire’s Kate Erbland praised the pair’s performances as “truly lovely,” adding that “these two are wonderful together, and just heartbreaking.”

Guy Lodge of Variety similarly said that “Lynskey, so good at playing weary, careworn decency, makes heart-to-heart dialogue sound, well, actually from the heart, rather than mawkishly platitudinous; Sandler returns her sincerity with a lovely performance that captures the needy, girlish terror and exploratory adult curiosity at play in her character.”

Angie Han wrote for The Hollywood Reporter that it is “the leading ladies who really make the film.” Sunny “rises to the challenge of letting us in on how Sophie is feeling when often she’s unable or unwilling to know herself,” Han added.

The AP’s Jocelyn Noveck agreed that Sunny “has a winning enough presence to neutralize the corny stuff.”

“She’s a pleasure to watch,” Noveck continued, “even if her stage persona is at times a bit too intimate — she sings softly when she could be belting — befitting a movie actor more than a stage actor.”

William Bibbiani of The Wrap found that “Sunny Sandler got the limelight, and she warrants the attention,” but argued, “Lynskey deserves the standing ovation.”

He commended Hart for knowing “how to elicit wonderful performances from her cast, and a few unexpected hiccups aside, her cast never lets her down.”

Sunny, the second daughter of Adam and Jackie Sandler, previously co-led the 2023 family comedy You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah, alongside her father and older sister, Sadie. Meanwhile, a majority of her past credits include appearances in several of her father’s projects: Grown Ups (2010), Just Go With It (2011), Jack and Jill (2011), That’s My Boy (2012), Blended (2014), The Do-Over (2016), Sandy Wexler (2017), Murder Mystery (2019) and more recently Happy Gilmore 2 (2025).

Don’t Say Good Luck, which debuts Friday on Netflix, is Sunny’s first major role in a film that does not feature any of her other family members onscreen. However, her father serves as a producer.