Review of Lucy in the Sky (2019) by Grantd243 — 16 Oct 2019

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that astronauts can be changed and affected by their experiences in space. Physical changes are guaranteed, but mental changes are likely as well. Lucy in the Sky tries to capture this through its portrayal of Lisa Nowak's wild story. And in a couple of ways, it succeeds. Lucy's initial struggle to re-adjust to life on Earth and her longing to fill the emptiness that she feels inside is portrayed effectively. And this film does nail the visual aspect fairly well. The visuals when she gets lost in her thoughts make what could be a dull moment far more interesting, and there are some nice shots sprinkled throughout. The often-changing aspect ratio is a respectable attempt at helping us get a better idea of what's going on in Lucy's head, but...does it really help? No, it doesn't add anything of actual substance. If anything, it made me take my focus off of what was actually happening on the screen and instead watch the edges of the shot widen or narrow.

It's clear Noah Hawley got a bit lost at some point. I don't know if it was in the writing or editing process, but he found himself focusing too much on trying to portray meaning through visual aspects and on-the-nose metaphors, and less on telling the story well. The timeline also gets extremely crunched in the third act, and the addition of her niece to the story was such an odd decision. She serves no purpose, at all. In fact, she actually made the story worse. Incredible.

This film already wasn't heading towards a standing ovation, but the third act fell so flat I darted out of my seat and out of the theater when the credits rolled.

Also...