Luce (film)

Luce is a 2019 American social thriller drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Julius Onah. It stars Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Tim Roth. The film was based on the play of the same name by J.C. Lee.

Luce
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJulius Onah
Produced by
  • John Baker
  • Julius Onah
  • Andrew Yang
Written by
  • J.C. Lee
  • Julius Onah
Based onLuce
by J.C. Lee
Starring
Music by
CinematographyLarkin Seiple
Edited byMadeleine Gavin
Production
companies
  • Dream Factory Group
  • Altona Filmhaus
  • Cinetic Media
  • Topic Studios
Distributed byNEON
Release date
  • January 27, 2019 (2019-01-27) (Sundance)
  • August 2, 2019 (2019-08-02) (United States)
Running time
109 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.3 million[2][3]

Luce had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019 and was theatrically released on August 2, 2019 by NEON.[4] It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the cast's performances and Onah's direction.

Plot

From war-torn Eritrea, Luce Edgar is an all-star high school athlete and accomplished debater who is adored by other school students and his parents, Peter and Amy Edgar. However, he has animosity toward his history teacher, Harriet Wilson, who got his friend DeShaun kicked off the running team after finding marijuana in his locker and calling the police.

Harriet calls Amy, asking her to meet at school. She shows her Luce's written assignment in which, asked to write from the perspective of a historical figure, he chose Frantz Fanon, a political revolutionary who argued that colonialism can be overcome through violence. Harriet is concerned, as Luce was a child soldier before coming to America, and someone like him writing this could get in trouble. Harriet also tells Amy that she went through Luce's locker and found a bag full of illegal and dangerous fireworks.

Amy shows Peter the paper and the fireworks; both are unsettled, but decide to hide them and not mention anything to Luce. During dinner, the family brings up Harriet again. Luce accuses her of singling out students to make a point. He tells them how Harriet often uses Stephanie Kim, a classmate allegedly sexually abused at a party while drunk, as an example of a victimized woman suffering in silence. Luce is Harriet's shining example of a star black student, which is not how he wants to be seen, arguing that he does not want to be tokenized. Later, Luce finds the hidden paper and fireworks.

The next day, Luce and Harriet discuss the issue of his paper. He acknowledges his wording but says he just did what the assignment asked, dismissing any true belief in violence. He then makes a comment about fireworks that Harriet interprets as a threat, and she notifies Peter. He and Amy confront Luce about the comment plus the fireworks being in his locker. He explains that the track team members share lockers, and the fireworks are not his. Peter thinks Luce is lying, while Amy is not sure what to believe.

Harriet and her sister Rosemary, who suffers from an unspecified mental illness, have an encounter with Luce that unsettles Harriet. Later that night, Harriet finds Rosemary has trashed the house. She takes her sister back to the "doctor." At a team car wash fundraiser, Luce promises DeShaun that he will make things right. Meanwhile, Amy and Stephanie meet at a coffee shop. Stephanie says that she used to date Luce, something Amy never knew, but that they broke up. Stephanie uncomfortably describes being sexually assaulted at a party by several boys but denies Luce's involvement, saying he claimed to have stopped them and comforted her after she awoke. Luce later learns from Stephanie about the visit.

The next day Rosemary arrives at the school and has a breakdown in front of Harriet, Luce, and other students before being apprehended by police. Luce shows a video of the incident to Amy and Peter, which disturbs them. Harriet's home is vandalized that night, and Stephanie arrives shortly after to tell Harriet that Luce sexually assaulted her. Harriet informs the school principal (Dan Towson), and a meeting is organized with them, Luce, and his parents, with Stephanie waiting in another room. Luce quickly disproves Harriet's accusations with video evidence of his whereabouts, and Harriet's harsh questions quickly make Amy and Peter take their son's side over hers.

Harriet brings up the fireworks, and Amy lies, saying that Harriet only told her about them on the phone. Amy even tells Towson that Harriet deliberately went after her. Harriet goes to the room Stephanie was in to discover she has left. Once she returns, Towson accepts Amy's claims, and the meeting ends despite Harriet still trying to argue her side to Towson. At night, exploding fireworks inside Harriet's desk cause a fire. Harriet meets with Towson who puts her on a leave of absence pending investigation due to heavy suspicion against her. After learning of the incident, Amy runs home to find the fireworks, only to discover in horror that they are gone. Peter believes Luce was involved, but Amy insists that they will stand up for their son and not defend Harriet.

Luce confronts Harriet at her house about how she ruined DeShaun's athletic career and put Luce on a pedestal. She defends her position, but Luce believes she stereotyped them. She claims that America stereotyped them and she was trying to protect them. She then accuses Luce of being hypocritical (by using other black students to "run his errands" so he wouldn't get caught) before ordering him out of her house.

Outside, Amy follows Luce to a hideout where he has sex with Stephanie, who sees Amy outside the window but does not react. When Amy returns home to the spot she had originally hidden the fireworks, Luce returns too and reconciles with her. Later, Luce gives a speech at school, where he thanks Amy and Peter for raising him and says how lucky he feels to be an American, with the chance to start over and tell his own story. After, Luce goes on a run, during which his face contorts in rage.

Cast

Production

In November 2017, it was announced Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Tim Roth had joined the cast of the film, with Julius Onah directing from a screenplay by himself and JC Lee. John Baker, Onah, and Andrew Yang served as producers on the film with Rob Feng, Amber Wang, and Lee served as executive producers under their Dream Factory Group banner.[5] In December 2017, Brian Bradley, also known as Stro, joined the cast of the film.[6] Onah spoke about the importance of rehearsal with actors to his process. The actors rehearsed with each other before filming to create deeper familiarity, this includes a rehearsal in which all the young actors joined up in New York to hang out and develop a deeper backstory and understanding of their characters.[7] The film was shot on 35mm film.

Release

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019.[8] Shortly after, NEON & Topic Studios acquired distribution rights to the film.[9] It was released on August 2, 2019.[10]

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 7.75/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Luce brings a stellar ensemble to bear on a satisfyingly complex story that addresses its timely themes in thought-provoking fashion."[11] On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[12]

The Guardian's Benjamin Lee said of Kelvin Harrison Jr.'s performance, "It's an utterly mesmeric turn, filled with crushing vulnerability and insidious menace, in a brutal, dramatically explosive film that challenges preconceptions and leaves us with difficult, troubling questions to consider."[13] Critic Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com praises the film commenting, "It reminded me of early Mamet work although with a commentary on race he could never attempt. All of this, and it’s got one of the best ensemble performances of Sundance 2019. This is one to watch for." He went on to specifically praise Harrison Jr.'s performance as "the real deal... flat out brilliant."[14]

See also

References
  1. "Luce". Sundance Film Festival. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  2. "Luce (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  3. "Luce (2019)". The Numbers. IMDb. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  4. "Julius Onah's Thriller 'Luce' Sells To NEON & Topic Studios – Sundance". Deadline Hollywood.
  5. Fleming Jr, Mike (November 9, 2017). "Dream Factory Launches With 'Luce': Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Tim Roth Kelvin Harrison Jr. Head Cast". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  6. N'Duka, Amanda (December 12, 2017). "Ian Chen & Jovan Armand Join 'Shazam!', Brian 'Astro' Bradley Jr. Cast In 'Luce'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  7. Buder, Emily. "The 'Independent Filmmaking Miracle' of 'Luce'". No Film School.
  8. "Sundance Unveils Politics-Heavy Lineup Featuring Ocasio-Cortez Doc, Feinstein Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  9. D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 30, 2019). "Julius Onah's Thriller 'Luce' Sells To NEON & Topic Studios – Sundance". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
  10. "Luce". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  11. "Luce (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  12. "Luce reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  13. Lee, Benjamin (January 30, 2019). "Outside the multiplex: the best smaller films to see in the US this summer". The Guardian.
  14. "Sundance 2019: Luce, Big Time Adolescence, Them That Follow".
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