NIGHTSTREAM 2020 | Talent, Not Good Fortune, Makes "Lucky" A Timely And Entertaining Thriller
9/12 ForReel Score | 4/5 Stars
In Lucky, May Ryer (Brea Grant) is a writer who finds herself trapped in an odd reality where she has to defend herself against a masked stranger’s daily attempt to kill her despite her repeated and obvious fatal victories over the assailant. When she reports the attacks to her friends and authorities, they all seem to brush off the severity of the recurring situation. After a while, May decided to follow the advice of her most recent book’s title, “Go It Alone”, and take matters into her own hands.
Repetition plays a fascinating role in Lucky. Of course, there’s the repetitive attack May has to endure from this masked stranger, but certain phrases are used over and over again - like how people keep insisting “this is just the way it is” and impressing on her how lucky she is (hence the title of the film). It’s not Groundhog Day, but it’s an undeniably bizarre and surreal realm May finds herself in.
That surrealism, by the way, is amplified by a remarkably horrific score. Heavily and maniacally plucked strings accompany May and the building tension leading up to her encounters with the masked stranger. It’s horror scoring at its finest, kicking the suspense of the inevitable up a couple notches.
From there, the brutal confrontations offer all of the gutsy and gory action horror fans could want - bloody messes that May has to clean up in her home daily. It all amounts to a very entertaining, very thrilling experience leading up to the disconcerting climax, which reveals the reality of the threats many women are subjected to when they’re alone and preyed upon. Although I feel the big reveal in the conclusion is something worthy of further discussion, the allegory presented in Lucky makes the hardships many women deal with more accessible to those who have not experienced such transgressions.
Lucky comes out as a carefully orchestrated PSA for feminism, but presents its thesis with dramatic and entertaining flare. It’s a wild and tense ride for audiences, making this film a horror flick worth checking out.
Acting and Casting - 2 | Visual Effects and Editing - 2 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 2 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 2 | Reviewer's Preference - 1 | What does this mean?