Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: YOUR LUCKY DAY [Fantastic Fest 2023 - Austin, Texas]
The aspect of a no win situation is based within the context of choice. What are we willing to do? What are we willing to protect? "Your Lucky Day" uses the instance of a would-be lottery winner but the tangled web that is woven in order to bring those most inventive to the point of return and success over one night. Using Miami as a back drop with a motif of the rich versus the poor or those who have power to those just struggling to get by, the movie builds dread to a crescendo because of what the characters are willing to do. Angus Cloud (in one of his final roles) plays Sterling, a guy just trying to get by who speaks what everyone else is feeling and thinking. He is a guy down on his luck but not working for anything else than just to get paid. The people he ends up embroiling in the situation with are no better off but all have the same basic problems but at different levels. Elliott Knight and Jessica Garza play a couple (basically married) who want something better but are also dealing with a moral quandary that Sterling very specifically speaks to.
Cloud oddly enough as a character comes off as a truthsayer who, after accepting his fate, sees the redemption or at least resolution in their path. The film is very economical and brings to mind the Safdie Brothers' "Good Times" with a character with nothing to lose but everyone trying to get what he has. The mechanics of the plot do leave loose ends that might come back to cause problems later but there is enough leeway with the audience to understand that not all loose ends need to be tied up. However, when push comes to shove, and life vs. death situations arise, characters do what is needed to survive. The time structure of the film also gives a sense of urgency because one never knows who is watching. Fortunately,"Your Lucky Day" pivots in a way once might not expect depending on the level of intent. Granted, Director Dan Brown wants the audience to feel that they have taken the high road but everyone has their reason for doing what they do. The grainy texture again reflects the Safdies but also "Moonlight"in the context of making Miami a cross-section of the world while living in an American Dream where ambitions and goals become a path worth dying for. B
By Tim Wassberg
