Lou (2022)

 

Genre: Action/Drama            Time: 1h 50mins            Director: Anna Foerster

Quick Summary: A young girl is kidnapped during a powerful storm. Her mother joins forces with her mysterious neighbour to set off in pursuit of the kidnapper. Their journey will test their limits and expose the dark secrets of their past.

One of the things that stood out to me with Lou was just how gritty  the film looks. Even though the film is set in the 1980s, the film wisely avoids becoming a blast of nostalgia and really only uses 80s iconography when appropriate and in context rather than reminding you every few minutes as some films set in the decade have been guilty of. This was honestly really refreshing as it gets rather tiring when films constantly direct your attention to something from a previous decade to say, "hey you remember this right???"

 Allison Janney is really good as Lou and her performance as this hardened isolated loner is well done and she fits the role very well in terms of both the character's backstory and skillset as well as conveying the inner turmoil of this character when it's revealed what the source is. The other actors are good in their roles too with Jurmee Smollett's performance as an abuse survivor quite engaging and Logan Marshall-Green a solidly done antagonist even if they're not as compelling as Janney's role. I was really impressived with the main cast, they really made this film better for me. If the actors weren't as good in this, I do feel like it would be a bit poor entertainment wise.

The movie does have a twist relating to certain character relationships and like most twists related to this type of genre exercise I think most will see it coming, but it works well enough and leads to an emotional climax that I was willing to let it pass. Though, I think it's best to shut off and watch this film, and don't try to guess the ending. It's not the craziest twist in the world and I'm sure  many other films have done it. But I enjoyed what this film did still. 

ou doesn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to this kind of gritty minimalist action thriller, but it gives enough meat to the characters, aesthetics, and performances that I was kept engaged.

8/10

"World's not a playground. Teach your kid to look out for herself."