Luz(2018)(Review)[Weirdo Wednesday]

Luz is a young female cabdriver who stumbles into the lobby of a run-down police station. She’s speaking in riddles with a couple gashes on her face. Meanwhile, somewhere else, we watch as a psychologist is having a drink at an empty bar when a woman named Nora invites herself to sit next to him and tell her tale about Luz – whom she has a history with. The psychiatrist, Dr. Rossini, is absolutely gripped to this story as they share bumps of cocaine and drinking numerous cocktails. It’s not until he decides it’s time to leave that he realizes how intoxicated he truly is. Nora brings him into the bathroom for some brief hanky-panky, but something terribly strange happens here. From then on, we enter a classroom-like setting where we find Luz speaking with a police investigator and her audio-recording assistant. Things get stranger when Dr. Rossini shows up to the interrogation as well and begins a sort of hypno-therapy. The story unwinds as we begin to understand who Luz is, what history her and Nora share, and what Dr. Rossini is trying to do in this session.

This movie is a strange one from beginning to end. It has the manic energy at the start of ‘Possession’, but after we leave the bar scene, we are in the police interrogation room for the entirety of the film. It’s quite well disguised, but it’s not hard to see that this is actually a student film that made waves at a European festival. It is a chamber piece that makes the most of its limited resources. The entire film only features 2 prominent locations – the bar & the police room – with bits of flashbacks sprinkled in. We are only spending time with a maximum of 5 characters from start to end. Characters play multiple roles, sometimes intermingling the flashbacks with the present interrogation, and we go on a very intimate ride of figuring out what’s happening here. It also bounces back and forth between German & Spanish language.

It’s hard to really discuss this film without breaking down actual events that happen, but since the poster & first 10 minutes of the film already gives away the main plot, I’ll go ahead and say that this is really a demonic possession film. However, it is definitely one that takes an approach I’ve never really seen before – and its not trying to hide this from you at all, in fact, it wants you to know right from the start. There are a few shocking revelations, some surreal images, a few scenes that seem to go from 0 to 10 with no warning, and all of the actors hold this movie down so well. It’s super short with a very concise 70-minute run time and doesn’t really leave any fat on this entire beast.

As long as you go in with an open mind & understand how limited it is since it is literally a student film, it has enough happening to keep you entertained and curious. It is a very appropriate piece for ‘Weirdo Wednesdays’, and I do give it a recommendation to the appropriate audience.

3/5
“Luz” is currently streaming on Tubi, Vudu, and is available on Limited Edition Blu-Ray from Vinegar Syndrome.

‘Til Next Time,
Mike Cleopatra