Rating: ***1/2
Starring: Brea Grant, Dhruv Uday Singh, Leith M. Burke
Watching and covering a film like Lucky (2020) requires a lot of reading between the lines and conveying meanings behind actions. It's not for everyone, nor will anyone easily get the message among the symbolisms and metaphors, but I'd be lying if I say I didn't find myself intrigued and engrossed by this title's approach in tackling a relevant issue.
May (Brea Grant) is a self-help author who's struggling to get her next book deal approved and she's about to find herself targeted by a man in a mask one night. Curious, however, is that her husband Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh) claims that this isn't the first time the intruder broke in to try killing her, so much so that he's unsettlingly nonchalant about the ongoing home invasion and treats every horrible thing happening as if it's a nightly routine, down to the man strangely disappearing in an instant after he's dispatched.
The police are soon called to look into the matter (oddly in a similar composed attitude as Ted's) and when morning comes, May questions her husband about the attack, pointing out how unnatural everybody else's responses were to the incident. This leads to an argument that ends with Ted driving away, leaving May alone to defend herself. Which she does. Over and over again as the man continues to show up and attack her, only to disappear after he's either knocked out or killed and reappearing good as new the next day.
Lucky (2020) may have the guise of your everyday slasher flick but, truth be told, it's hardly a work of exploitative shlock and more of an expression of real world concerns through the horror genre. From its dialogue, visuals and direction, the film more so identifies the supernatural slasher attacks to a woman's struggles to manage her life and how any triumphs she gets from these hardships are often undermined as her simply being lucky. It's a strong feminist message, one that is greatly reflected with Bea Grant's scripting and outstanding performance as our troubled yet capable lead who, in turn, is noticeably more grounded compared to the distant, listless take of every other characters she interact with, (much to her increasing outrage) a parallel to how isolating it is to suffer through a problem that is most likely to be overlooked by an outsider.
It's an ambitious concept for a horror thriller, one that twists an otherworldy nightmare into a play on the cynical state of reality and interprets a masked madman as a representation of trauma and its persistency, complimented with the right amount of horror and bloodletting to keep the thrills alive without sacrificing its agenda to be relatable despite how insane the situation gets. There are moments where it did get too surreal for its own deal, but the overall result is still a savvy, polished product that's rich in atmosphere and ideas, giving a little bit more for the thinking horror fans who prefer their fright flicks with some perception, all the while catering to casual scare junkies with decent home invasion slasher attacks, cat-and-mouse stalkings and one harrowing climax.
All in all, Lucky (2020) is a movie that I can heartily recommend for very open horror fans who doesn't mind something leaning closer to the expressive and cerebral. It defies the norms of cliches and weigh little on structured, conclusive plotting, practically impractical as a film, but the experience that comes with its interpretative message is just too impactful and intriguing to simply pass.
Bodycount:
1 male fell off from a floor (Death A)
1 male knifed in the back (Death B)
1 male knifed, blood splash seen (Death C)
1 male stabbed on in the throat with a knife (Death D)
1 male brained with a hammer (Death E)
1 female had her throat cut with a knife
1 male gets a knife thrown to his back
1 male stabbed with a glass shard (Death F)
Total: 8
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