A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status... Read allA married couple is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.A married couple is forced to reckon with their idealized image of their son, adopted from war-torn Eritrea, after an alarming discovery by a devoted high school teacher threatens his status as an all-star student.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 25 nominations total
- Corey Johnson
- (as Omar Brunson)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaKelvin Harrison Jr. actually wrote a paper on Frantz Fanon as part of his research for the role; Octavia Spencer then graded it, and that paper is the one seen onscreen.
- GoofsWhen Amy is in her car following Luce who is on foot, she is travelling visibly quicker than he is yet never catches up or gets closer to him.
- Quotes
Luce Edgar: When I first met my mother, she couldn't pronounce my name. My father suggested that they rename me. They picked Luce, which means light.
- ConnectionsReferenced in OWV Updates: Multimedia Update (15/06/2019) (2019)
- SoundtracksOrigami Tiger
Written by Kate Miner
Performed by Briana Lane and Kate Miner (as Winslow)
By arrangement with Ocean Park Music Group
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
- eddie_baggins
- Mar 29, 2020
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Also known as
- Đứa Con Trai Hoàn Hảo
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,010,613
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $132,987
- Aug 4, 2019
- Gross worldwide
- $2,268,204
- Runtime1 hour 49 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1