MIFF 2025 Film Review - Lucky Lu
Images courtesy of Common State.
Lloyd Lee Choi’s debut feature explores the life and times of an Asian immigrant in the bustling city of New York, making it a grounded and relatable entry among the ongoing Melbourne International Film Festival 2025.
Lucky Lu tells the story of the titular Lu Jia Cheng, played by Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Happy Together), in his struggle to survive in a dog-eat-dog city by delivering food using fake profiles. However, his world is flipped upside down when his rental e-bike is stolen and he is scammed out of his rental deposit. To add salt to the wound, his wife (Fala Chen) and daughter (Carabelle Manna) will finally come to the city the next day, when he does not even have a roof over his head. The rest of the film follows his challenge to make ends meet for his family, even if that means selling parts of his soul.
Choi employs a rather cold colour scheme, with bleak lighting and many shadows. The extensive outdoor shooting, including shady alleyways filled with immigrants, portrays an authentic and sympathetic slice of life of the average Asian immigrant experience in big cities worldwide. The sound design, primarily the phone’s notifications throughout the film, creates a sense of urgency and anxiety for Lu and the audience.
Chen’s performance as the sorrowful but performatively stoic father is a formative component of making the character feel out of place when surrounded by the concrete jungle. He roams the city, but his heart lies elsewhere. Lu constantly clashes with people from his past. He is imperfect in many ways, but he only wants a good upbringing for his daughter. Lu’s daughter, Yaya, acts as his anchor, grounding his morality from being corrupted by the harsh truth of his surroundings. Carabelle Manna portrays a headstrong little girl who is naïve yet understanding of her father’s hardship.
Lucky Lu harkens back to the themes and messages from Choi’s previous short films, fleshing out his idea in a feature-length scope. It is essentially an extended version of Same Old (2022), one of Choi’s first short films. It can also be likened to Closing Dynasty (2022), a short about a little girl hustling through the streets of New York to make the most money she could in a day, influencing the character of Yaya. Combining elements from these two short films into one grand story elevates the execution in terms of emotional and philosophical stakes.
If you want a reality check on the privileges usually taken for granted in life, Lucky Lu is an interesting piece of art that feels personal and difficult to go through in less than two hours. Lloyd Lee Choi illustrates the futility and unfairness of life to make a statement on the loneliness, isolation, and struggle to survive in a degrading economy and competitive job market, where working full-time for years doesn’t mean being able to support a family day-to-day. Within that darkness, Chen’s family also shines a light on the situation, reminding him of the reason that life is worth fighting for. In many ways, it is essentially an Asian and modern take on the classic Bicycle Thieves (1948).
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Lucky Lu is screening as part of the 2025 Melbourne International Film Festival. For tickets and more info, click here.