Luce, a black kid adopted from war-torn Eritrea by a white couple, becomes an excellent school student and a political statement but a series of obscure and ostensibly unrelated events gradually reveal everyone’s true colours.
I think that IMDb got it wrong here. They put ‘Drama’ under the title when they should have described it as ‘Thriller/Drama’. Let me explain… What’s at stake in Luce is the portrayal of the American educational system as a business. The selective promotion of an ethnic minority’s minority to the outside world, solely benefiting the system, labeling this person or group as a brand, and making them the poster child of what the system allegedly represents. That hypocritic notion is Luce‘s dramatic aspect. But this notion is wrapped by its thrilling development – by J.C. Lee – into a script. Character-wise, everyone – but one – is guilty. Everyone throughout the film either reveals or gets obvious that has lied at least once or has been withholding crucial to the story information. Something that Julius Onah’s directing and Madeleine Gavin’s editing unfold very meticulously. The music carefully dictates the film’s tone, adding the eerie atmosphere of an A-class thriller. DOP Larkin Seiple with surgical precision frames everything, including only what you need to see – and not what you would like to. Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Octavia Spencer, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. shine in front of the lens, creating amazing chemistry, and make you love them and then loathe them, even love them and loathe them at the same time. But… the (not guilty) one holding no punches whatsoever and steals the spotlight is none other than Marsha Stephanie Blake. Hair-raising performance!
For better or for worse my role is to do film analysis and not politics even though most of the times I can’t help myself. Watch it and jump to your own conclusions regarding what is wrong with the US educational system, one of America’s most sore points. Interesting is also the subplot; the fear of expression due to the pushed and rushed political correction imposed nowadays and the questionable movements all around the world that aim to skin you alive if you dare to offend anyone – even unintentionally.
Don’t miss this one out. Don’t let it go under the radar.