Luce is a 2019 American social thriller drama film co-produced and directed by Julius Onah, who co-wrote the screenplay with JC Lee, based on the 2013 play by Lee. It stars Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Kelvin Harrison Jr., and Tim Roth. The film tells the story of a couple (Watts and Roth) forced to reconsider their marriage and their family after an extremely disturbing essay written by their adopted son (Harrison Jr.) is brought to their attention by his teacher (Spencer).
Principal photography took place in Roosevelt, New York and Los Angeles, California and the film was shot on 35mm film.
Luce had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019, and was released in the United States on August 2, by Neon. It received positive reviews from critics, who praised the cast's performances, Onah's direction, the writing, and the film's themes. The film made over $2.3 million worldwide.
The film received multiple nominations from the various award organizations including the Black Reel Awards and various critics organizations, including the Hollywood Critics Association and the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards.
Contents
Plot
Born in war-torn Eritrea and adopted in the United States by a progressive White family, Luce Edgar is an all-star high school athlete and accomplished public speaker who is adored by other students and his adoptive parents, Peter and Amy. However, he has animosity towards his history teacher, Harriet Wilson, who got his friend DeShaun kicked off the running team after finding marijuana in his locker.
Amy meets with Harriet, who shows her Luce has written a paper about political revolutionary Frantz Fanon, arguing that colonialism can be overcome through violence. Harriet is concerned. Harriet also reveals to Amy that she found a bag of illegal fireworks in Luce's locker.
Amy and Peter decide to not say anything to Luce, hiding the paper and fireworks. When asked about his teacher, Luce accuses Harriet of harmfully singling out students, such as using Stephanie Kim, a Korean-American classmate had been sexually assaulted by Luce's friends and teammates, at the time she was also dating Luce, as an example of a victim suffering in silence. Luce is Harriet's shining example of a star Black student, but he argues that he does not want to be tokenized. Luce finds the hidden paper and fireworks.
Luce and Harriet discuss his paper to which he says he simply followed the prompt of the assignment, disavowing any true belief in violence. He makes a comment about fireworks that Harriet interprets as a threat, and she notifies Peter. He and Amy confront Luce. He explains that the track team shares lockers and the fireworks are not his. Peter thinks Luce is lying, but Amy is not sure and tries to maintain peace.
Harriet and her sister Rosemary, who suffers from an unspecified mental illness, have an encounter with Luce at a supermarket that unsettles Harriet.
Luce and Deshaun engage in an argument regarding Deshaun's removal from the running team, resulting in a loss of potential scholarships. Deshaun criticizes Luce for the privileges he receives as being exalted as a star student, which Luce argues he does not want nor asked for. He 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, which Amy never knew, but they broke up. Stephanie describes being sexually assaulted at a party by several boys while under the influence of alcohol. Luce stopped them and comforted her after she awoke. Luce later learns from Stephanie about the visit.
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. In December 2017, Brian Bradley, also known as Stro, joined the cast of the film.
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. The film was shot on 35mm film.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27, 2019. Shortly after, NEON & Topic Studios acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released on August 2, 2019, and came out on VOD by Universal Home Entertainment on October 29, 2019.
Reception
Box office
Luce grossed $2 million in the United States and Canada, and $0.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $2.3 million, plus $76,183 with home video sales.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 91% of 171 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Luce brings a stellar ensemble to bear on a satisfyingly complex story that addresses its timely themes in thought-provoking fashion." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 72 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
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." Critic Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com praised 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."