Luce

The trailer for this film is what sold it for me. It appeared to me to be a psychological thriller set in an American high school, centred around the relationship between a Black student and his teacher. And I wasn't exactly wrong...but I wasn't exactly right either.

So Luce is a young Black student, praised by all his teachers and in line to be class valedictorian. But one of his teachers is worried that he is involved in some illegal activity and gets his parents involved. As the web of lies gets more tangled and the tension rises, we start to find that we don't know who to believe.

So lets start by talking about the spectacular performances of all the actors. There are some really seasoned actors and actresses in this film, and they of course give the kind of performances tat you would expect of some of these household names. However, what Is amazing is that the breakout performances by virtually unknown actors are just as good. Kelvin Harrison Jr.'s performance as Luce was truly spectacular and it is his amazing portrayal of the character is what makes the whole thing work. The whole reveal at the end would never work if his performance wasn't as excellent as it was.

Now we need to talk about the ending. But to that we need to look at the pacing of the whole film. So it is a very VERY slow build, as all psychological thrillers are. And you can feel the film building towards a huge climax...and was is the most disappointing thing is that I don't feel like that amazing climax ever really arrives. It was quite unclear at the end what the scheme actually was or what the motivations were, and for me, that is the most important thing in a psychological thriller. Instead I felt unsatisfied. Not a good feeling for the end of a thriller.

Not the best thriller I have seen so far this year and not one that I will remember in a few weeks from now. Enjoyable to watch once, but not one I will be returning too.

Outstanding score - it goes to show you how easily it can make or break a film. Casting and performances were great. Cinematography and directing were decent, but the writing/screenplay was unnecessarily convoluted and underwhelming in trying to create mystery and suspense, but instead presented a half-baked misfire of a plot. The slow pacing and choppy plot made the 109 min run-time feel like 3 hours. Luce missed a huge opportunity to be something great had it had more substance than filler. It's a very generous 6/10 from me.

I was with "Luce" all the way until the end. After all the twists and turns, the ending was a complete let down. I still do not know what was the point of this film. If it wasn't for the actors, I would have rated this a 1.

Adapting his own play of the same name, playwright/screenwriter J.C Lee teams up with director Julius Onah to deliver a talk driven and character lead thriller that will most certainly get you talking afterwards but despite its weighty themes and controversial plot points, Luce may leave many cold come its closing credits as we are left too ponder many unanswered questions, that in some instances remain frustratingly unresolved.

Collating a well-rounded cast that includes the always good Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Octavia Spencer and featuring a star-making turn from It Comes at Night actor Kelvin Harrison Jr as the titular Luce Edgar, Onah's film is the very definition of a slow burning affair as we are thrust into a seemingly small-scale school drama that slowly but surely moves towards a much larger issue in the lives of those it's affecting.

The less known about Luce's plot developments the better but suffice to know that from Spencer's teacher Harriet Wilson concerned meeting with Luce's adopted mother Amy after she discovers a potentially dangerous item in Luce's locker following an alarm raising report his handed in to her, the film takes us on a ride that tackles issues of race, identity and stereotyping as we begin to understand more about each of the characters within Luce's world and what is motivating them to make life-changing decisions in light of alleged issues.

Front and centre to all of this is Luce, a character that is incredibly hard to pin down, drifting from likeable star student to possible deviously motivated trouble maker and Harrison Jr wondrously plays with our emotions and feelings here as he brings this on paper perfect adoptive son to life.

Watching Harrison Jr play off against Watts and Roth is a joy to behold, while his interactions with Spencer's nosey but well-meaning teacher is a huge reason why Luce is such a gripping film for a majority of its dialogue heavy runtime and for the most part Onah and his cast keep us on edge throughout as we try and predict just what will come out and who will play their true cards first.

Unfortunately for the film, come the endgame you can't help but feel as though a little too much has been left only half-explored, there's a lot of themes, issues and ideas at play here and for a film that borders on a near two hour runtime, Onah and Lee had enough time to explore these to a more satisfactory level and the unsure nature of exactly who comes out of this film as the good and the bad makes us feel short-changed as bystanders, making the journey of Luce far more entertaining that its destination.

Final Say -

A uniquely constructed family/high school drama that explores more than its fair share of weighty themes, Luceis a tightly wound thriller with some great performances and ideas but not the final execution to make it the killer offering it could've been.

3 bags of fireworks out of 5

This film had me gripped, I loved it at first, saw a lot of potential in it! But i was left with so many unanswered question's, plot holes and motives. This would be a good film for a first episode to a series! But not as a film. The plot build up is extremely slow yet the ending is no different. Not worthy of the word 'film' but a good plot and amazing acting! Too many unanswered questions though.