Lucy (2019)

Directed by: Julius Onah | 109 minutes | drama, thriller | Actors: Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Norbert Leo Butz, Andrea Bang, Marsha Stephanie Blake, Omar Shariff Brunson Jr., Noah Gaynor, Astro, Christopher Mann, Hannah Cabell

Is he a saint or is he a monster? There is no middle ground for Luce (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.). As a boy of seven, he was adopted from Eritrea by the white couple Amy and Peter Edgar (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth), but ten years later the traces of the civil war from his childhood are still visible. Encouraged by his parents, those typical Western benefactors who feel guilty about their own wealth and privileges and try to ‘make things right’ with a good deed, he achieves fantastic results at school. He’s the top debater in school, a great track record, and a model student who makes Barack Obama pale. But is Luce (the name means ‘light’) really such a good Hendrik as he pretends to be? Or does he play the person his environment wants him to be? Director Julius Onah (‘The Cloverfield Paradox’, 2019) constantly misleads the viewer in his psychological drama ‘Luce’ (2019) – based on the play of the same name by JC Lee – and at the same time holds up a mirror to them about universal themes such as prejudice, ethnic profiling, identity problems and racism.

There doesn’t seem to be a speck in the air for Luce; he grows up with loving adoptive parents, has many friends and performs above average in class and on the sports fields. But that changes when his history teacher, Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer), asks her students to write an essay from the perspective of a historical figure and Luce chooses the controversial revolutionary and philosopher Frantz Fanon, who felt that oppressed peoples or countries may use force to effect change. Wilson finds this a rather striking choice and decides to poke around in Luce’s locker, where she finds a bag of illegal fireworks. Shocked and concerned, she decides to talk to mother Amy about it before she raises the issue. She has the accusations in her stomach; although she wants to believe that it is all based on a misunderstanding, the doubt sets in: how well do she and her husband really know Peter Luce? Isn’t there a potential terrorist hiding behind that model son? And should they play open cards with their son? Or would that bond of trust, built up with so much effort, harm them too much? When Amy then also learns of a school party that got out of hand in which a girl was assaulted (and worse!) and where Luce was also supposed to have been present, her thoughts start racing with her. Luce has an alibi or excuse for everything, but isn’t it mainly because it all suits him?

‘Luce’ tackles a lot of tantalizing themes without feeling top-heavy. For example, that Harriet Wilson feels compelled to poke around in Luce’s locker (privacy violation!), she is prompted by the dangers of ‘school shootings’ that are always lurking in America. But also the identity crisis that the boy is going through – his environment expects him to behave in an exemplary way, but is that his true personality? – and the expectations he struggles with are intriguing themes. A picture is being painted here that white people can only see blacks in two ways: they either fall into the Obama, Will Smith and Denzel Washington category, or they are unhinged, misogynistic projectiles with criminal tendencies. There seems to be no middle ground, while in reality the vast majority of people fall into this middle category – white and black. Harrison is the star of this film, which most convincingly portrays the charming Luce, who you can never be sure whether he means what he says or not; exactly as the scroll is written. Octavia Spencer gives a good counterbalance when the teacher wants to do good but then gets the lid on the nose. Watts and Roth are solid as ever; their characters are the most recognizable. The progressive parents who are so eager to do good that they don’t realize they may be doing more harm than good for them.

‘Luce’ stands out for its complex characters; no one is one hundred percent holy and no one is one hundred percent a monster. Sometimes their actions feel a bit forced, directed by the script. A number of subplots, such as the one surrounding Miss Wilson’s psychologically distressed sister, do not turn out as intended. And the climax that seems to be being worked towards is not quite satisfying. But overall, ‘Luce’ is a captivating psychological drama that cuts across multiple levels and makes us reflect on our own expectations, pitfalls, and prejudices. With a starring role for the young Kelvin Harrison Jr.