Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Don’t Say Good Luck‘ packs an emotional punch as it follows a turbulent time in the life of a teenager named Sophie. Life had been going well for her until a complication with a family member upturned the seemingly idyllic situation. Over the course of an hour and a half, the film delves into Sophie’s emotional state as she tries to come to terms with an inevitable situation, while also trying to live her life as a teenager, with all its complexities of romance and drama. The story ends on a bittersweet note that tugs at the audience’s heartstrings. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Don’t Say Good Luck Plot Synopsis
Sophie is nervous about the audition for her school production of ‘Waitress.’ She knows she is not going to get the lead role, so she has her sights set on the next-best supporting role. She leaves for school with this anxiety and is entirely focused on her performance until her father, Ted, butt-dials her, and she overhears her parents’ conversation. It turns out that her mother, Elizabeth, has returned. This information weighs heavily on her, and she carries this into her audition. When she returns home, her parents confirm the news to her and her brothers. Still, there is hope because the last time, her mother fought for her life and won. The next day, Sophie discovers that she has won the lead role of Jenna, which is both surprising and exhilarating.
At first, Sophie thinks about dropping out of the play to be with her mother. But Elizabeth convinces her to go through with it because it is her passion, and she is really good at it. Sophie is also excited about the prospect of having Jack as her character’s love interest. Since she has had a crush on him for a long time, the idea of kissing him, even if it’s on the stage for the play, excites her. As rehearsals begin, she starts to question if she is good enough, but her teacher, Ms. Parker, helps her understand what the character needs. To get better, Sophie starts taking extra lessons, and soon she gets really good at it. Meanwhile, Elizabeth’s condition deteriorates, and she and Ted decide to ask her parents to move in with them for help.
While her parents’ arrival is helpful, it also ushers in the tension that Ted and Elizabeth had expected, to some extent. Her mother doesn’t like the idea of keeping Elizabeth’s situation a secret from the children. Meanwhile, her father takes over the role of dropping off and picking up Sophie from school and teaching her to drive in her free time. Things also suffer in her friendship as she ends up fighting with her best friend, Carolyn, who keeps things from her because she didn’t want to burden Sophie on top of everything else. Meanwhile, a romance is teased between Sophie and Jack, but the signals he gives are pretty confusing, until she realizes that this is how he is with every other girl, which makes her lose interest in him entirely.
Is Sophie’s Play a Success?
When Elizabeth’s health worsens, she and Ted take another trip to the doctor’s, where it turns out that the cancer has been growing much faster than anticipated. This means that her chances of beating it are pretty low, and the doctor confesses he has no idea how much time she has left. This throws the couple into despair, knowing that news of Elizabeth’s imminent death will break their children’s hearts. As she starts to consider all the plans she won’t be able to make, including their annual beach trip. She wonders if she will even be able to attend Sophie’s show, knowing that if her daughter finds out about her health, then she will drop out.
So, she and Ted decide it would be best not to update the children yet. As the days pass, Elizabeth tries her best to look upbeat and hopeful for her children, but her health doesn’t improve. Having her parents around is very helpful, but her mother doesn’t like the idea of not telling the children. Then one day, she lashes out when Sophie mentions she has a rehearsal on Mother’s Day and won’t be able to make the party at the deli. She tells her granddaughter to spend more time with her mother, and it is after this that Sophie realizes Elizabeth doesn’t have much time left. She is heartbroken at the prospect of losing her mother so soon, but also feels regret for not having spent more time with her.
This guilt and heartbreak turn into anger, which surfaces when Elizabeth contacts Ms. Parker to get a peek at the final rehearsal so she can watch her daughter live. It was supposed to be a secret, but the entire cast finds out, and then Elizabeth’s voice is heard during rehearsal. When Sophie comes home, she takes her anger out on Elizabeth, who is sorry for ruining things for her. The next day, Sophie goes to school, but when she receives a text from her mom, she runs back home, intent on not doing the show at all.
The mother and daughter apologize to one another, but when Elizabeth discovers Sophie has decided not to do the show, she convinces her otherwise. Sophie rushes back, believing she might be too late, but it turns out her friends had stalled the show, knowing she would return. As Sophie takes to the stage, she performs her heart out, using her performance as a way to process her emotions, which is why she loves the medium in the first place. While Elizabeth is unable to attend, her father, brothers, grandparents, teachers, and friends do, and she makes them all proud.
Does Elizabeth Die?
‘Don’t Say Good Luck’ begins with Elizabeth’s diagnosis, which keeps a clock ticking on her life. In stories like this, it is generally expected that the character won’t make it to the end. Their death is inevitable; what remains to be seen is how much life and love they are able to experience in the meantime. For Elizabeth, who knows she won’t make it past a few months, the wish is to see her daughter perform the play to which she has given her heart and soul. And she laments the fact that she will not be able to go to the beach with her family one last time, even if she survives beyond that point. By the end, her health has dropped to the point that she is not able to get out of the wheelchair and move around on her own.
It is clear that one of these days, death will come knocking at her door, and she will be gone. However, the film refuses to end at that point of finality for Elizabeth and her children. Throughout the film, Sophie processes the grief of slowly losing her mother to cancer, and while she tries to hide behind the play, using it as a distraction so she has something else to worry about, and not about it. Eventually, however, she lets out her fear and grief and talks it out with her mother, and the play does help her process the emotions she’d tried not to let out. Once that happens, she thinks about giving her mother the experiences she will miss.
With the help of her friends and the fellow cast members, she builds a stage that replicates the beach they were supposed to visit as a family. In this way, if Elizabeth cannot go to the beach, it is brought to her, and she gets to see her children play in the sand and have that happy memory she thought she wouldn’t get to witness again. Sophie also uses this opportunity to reenact her part of the play for her mother. She wears her maternity dress, which she’d earlier worn during the school play, and sings the songs she wishes her mother had been able to hear as an audience member at the school.
For her, the whole point of doing the play and working on the performance to be the best was to show it to her mother and make her proud. Since Elizabeth couldn’t come to the play, her daughter brought the play to her, and they celebrated its success together. The film ends with them hugging each other with love and tears. We don’t get another scene of Elizabeth’s death because that’s not what the story was about. It was always about the mother and daughter and their enduring love for one another, and that’s where the story ends.
Read More: Where Was Don’t Say Good Luck Filmed?
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