Where Is Lucy?

A clichéd Hollywood-like short film shot in what appears to be Disneyland in the UAE, the film still manages to pull off an emotional depth thanks in no small part to its young lead Eva Petersson. The first wave of goose bumps came when the actress looked directly into the camera and realized she was responsible, which had a weight to it as if to say we are all responsible for our actions, though it wasn't too heavy-handed to take us out of the story. The decent budget is put to good use with multiple large-scale locations while keeping the story intimate. It's obviously not the first short film director Salma Azzam has helmed and she's assembled an impressive crew in what I imagine is her most ambitious project. Fluid cinematography by Saad Aldin Alkharouf and an appropriately jagged edit by Youssef Hannoun is nicely underscored by composer Adam Benobeid's simple yet poignant score. A few of the minor characters were sometimes a little weak and difficult to understand, but keeping focus on the titular character made these slight flaws acceptable. It will be interesting to see what Ms. Azzam presents as her debut feature film because she seems more than ready for the next step.