Lucky

I saw this film on Shudder, titled "It's A Secret", so I knew to expect something off the beaten path from a typical horror film. The constant looming presence of the silent killer has a very Michael Myers-esque approach to an abstraction of the turmoil the protagonist faces as she (Goes) It Alone with some fairly well-put together kills along the way, but the climax isn't one for anyone who expects clear answers. I had to stop treating this film as a standard film with a beginning, middle, and end (?) and instead focus on the way she deals with the killer rather than expect any explained reasons why he's there. It gets surreal towards the end, but I can't say I disliked it.

I really like the concept of this movie. I saw it described as kafka-esque and that's fair. I also especially appreciated the physicality of The Man--great slasher movie articulation. However, the movie's message is a mess. It's neither subtle or blatant in a consistent way, and I think it was meant be disorienting but mainly comes off as poorly hashed out. The main character is another weak part of the concept, made even more rough by the fact that she's portrayed by the film's writer, leaving little room to think it wasn't acted exactly as intended. May isn't likeable or smart, and portraying people trying to help (especially social workers) as useless and dumb isn't a great look. Also, muddling the luck-fear message with the (paraphrasing) "I'm not lucky, I'm great" insert line to the publisher was painful. Finding a solid publisher who will let it ride after your commonplace self-help book bombs is pretty lucky. All writers go through the process she rants about, and luck most certainly plays a part. Lucky isn't awful, but what I believe hurts it the most and contributed to the wealth of bad reviews is that it could have been a phenomenal film.

I dont get all the really bad reviews for this film. It wasnt that bad but it wasn't amazing either just ok. Yes it doesnt explain a lot and yes its a looped plot film but it tries to hard for the deaper meaning than just a typical looped slasher although it probably would have been better if stuck to the loops without the deepness. The acting isnt great and can seem a bit b movie ish at times but they get the job done well enough. It did have potential to be a hell of a lot better but overall it was different from what i expected and i didn't mind that. The direction is the best part of this film. Some good shots and a mellow score with synth elements bring a nice welcomed atmosphere and help set the tone. Its not the best film ever made or the best looped style movie but its worth a watch nonetheless.

Although this is billed as a thriller/horror film, I'd place it more in the category of Black Mirror or Twilight Zone in that it's a satire about the state of things in the world, told with surreal/absurd elements. For example there were themes of people being disbelieved, while holding to an every-person-for-themselves attitude, further preventing people from getting support. There's much more to it than that (gender and class) so I'm summarizing very briefly.

Other points: Some of the acting was stiff at times but that became an advantage during brief kafkaesque scenes of the protagonist attempting to communicate. With surreal elements, it often comes with the territory in any case. The music was minimal and rather than announcing everything that was about to happen, it left space for the imagination to fill in the blanks, only containing a few themes that repeated, along with a few key visual leitmotifs.

I can see how a person following this as a literal story with a straightforward protagonist might expect things to go differently, but I felt a definite tension leading up to the end, wondering how the director would play out the themes presented in the story. Perhaps intentionally on the part of the director, while I felt sympathy for the main character, I felt even more for a few of the side characters, especially toward the end of the movie.

Overall I enjoyed the movie, found the themes timely, and will look up other movies by this director.

This movie has promising potential that sucks you in, and then quickly goes off the rails. The concept is entertaining, but the vision was lost. It would have made for an excellent horror comedy if they could have executed at least one portion of the storyline clearly.