Fridays of Fright: How Lucky Can You Be?
May (Brea Grant) Trying to Apprehend her Attacker
Groundhog Day meets horror. Sounds like Christopher Landon’s 2017 film Happy Death Day, right? How about Groundhog Day meets horror meets camp? From humor to gore to condescending male characters, Natasha Kermani’s film Lucky (2020) is a hidden gem of modern intruder films. Kermani – along with writer and star Brea Grant – reveals the haunting reality of male violence against women and the repercussions it has on the world. Lucky is a commentary on misogyny, oblivion, trauma, and the self-righteous male attitude.
“This is just how things are” is a recurring line and theme throughout the film, although it’s first heard during the opening home invasion from May’s self-absorbed husband Ted (Dhruv Uday Singh). From the beginning, it’s obvious that Ted isn’t concerned about the break-in, but rather he’s annoyed that May has frantically woken him. He tells her matter-of-factly that this sort of thing happens every night. When May questions this all she gets in return is Ted leaving her as he goes to “fight for his life.” But in reality, the man isn’t interested in him at all. The most he does is knock him out, but with May? Well, Ted says so himself – “[he’s] more interested in you than me.” Lucky wastes little time with exposition. We see the film through May’s confused eyes as she experiences life-threatening situations every night – and eventually day.
May Seeking Solace in her sister-in-law (Kausar Mohammed)
Kermani and Grant’s commentary is subtle, but not unnoticeable during the first half of the film. The first hint at this is not just Ted’s ambivalence towards the situation, but the fact that after he disarms the man instead of asking if his wife is all right he comments about how she didn’t check on him in the living room. And it isn’t just Ted who’s self-absorbed. While the other men – officers, paramedics, and May’s editor – are equally oblivious to this violence, May is too. She is so consumed by defending herself that she doesn’t see other women in the world struggling in the same manner. We see this in her sister-in-law (Kausar Mohammed), her assistant – Edie (Yasmine Al-Bustami), and even in female officers. They’re all grappling with this world of violence that seems to follow them wherever they go, yet May – sometimes selfishly – thinks that she’s alone in this battle and no one cares.
Lucky’s startlingly funny yet terrifying atmosphere is aided by Grant’s writing and in turn her acting abilities. Although her character and others can seem one-dimensional, the focus isn’t on character building here. Yes, all stories need a character to drive the plot, but Lucky is a film that uses placeholders in the story to emulate realism. There’s no room – or need – to elaborate on these characters. The story and commentary being made stand up by themselves. At the heart of it, Lucky is about navigating a world pinned against you, fighting for a place to feel safe, and defending yourself – not just against the outright violence, but also the snide comments that men seem to unconsciously make.
The Man (Hunter C. Smith) Waiting to Attack May
Nothing is as it seems, but somehow it all makes perfect sense. There is a method to the madness of Lucky that is hidden for the latter part of the film, but when it finally reveals itself it’s frustratingly obvious and mind-bending. Up is down, left is right, good is bad, dead is alive, and the list keeps going for this film. Linear storytelling is thrown out to make way for an experimental style to assist in the tumultuous world May has entered. Some questions are left for the audience to ponder upon, but it’s not too open-ended that we’re left frustrated not knowing. Lucky is just the right amount of chaos to leave the audience staring at a black screen thinking to themselves “what just happened?”.