Love You

Adam Sandler is onstage in a room that looks like a high school drama class, dealing with a performance that seems to be falling apart in real time. It is a staged, chaotic simulation of a nightmare gig. A dog wanders across the floor, a monitor breaks, a hole opens up in the stage, and Sandler gets distracted by phone calls and weird crowd interactions. Directed by Josh Safdie, the special trades the cavernous arenas where Sandler usually plays for a claustrophobic, low-rent black box theater. It succeeds because instead of fighting the engineered disasters, Sandler leans into them with his signature mix of sweet-natured slacker charm and heavy-duty filth.

Filmed at the Nocturne Theatre in Glendale, California, the show arrived in late 2024 as a reunion between Sandler and Safdie, who previously collaborated on the movie Uncut Gems. Sandler mixes rapid-fire, absurd stand-up setups, such as clown funerals and foot-high assassins, with the acoustic-guitar songs that have defined his career since the 1990s. There are musical bits about the anxiety of forgetting your keys and wallet, a track about a kid walking in on his parents, and a guest spot from classic ventriloquist Willie Tyler and his puppet, Lester.

While the backdrop is designed to feel stressful, the material is incredibly warm. Sandler sings a tribute to his late friend Chris Farley, and spends much of the hour expressing gratitude to the crowd, even when Rob Schneider wanders out to do an Elvis impression. It received strong reviews upon its Netflix release, with critics noting that despite Sandler’s massive fame, he still projects the vibe of an approachable dad singing silly songs in his backyard.