Quick Review: Lucy in the Sky

Lucy in the Sky is one of 2019's biggest filmmaking disasters.

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Lucy in the Sky is an unholy mess, to say the least. While actor Natalie Portman (Black Swan, Jackie, Annihilation) gives it her all, sadly; she is suffocated by the film's incoherence. Writer-Director Noah Hawley (known for his critically acclaimed TV shows, Fargo and Legion) tries to hypnotize the audience with flashy camerawork but fails to advance the story productively. The film is "loosely based on the real-life story of disgraced former astronaut, Lisa Nowak, who made headlines when she was arrested in 2007 for the attempted kidnapping of her ex-lover's new girlfriend (the ex was also an astronaut)." Here, Hawley had great ambition and some pretty strong material to work with but instead, we get a muddled storyline caught between the cosmos. The editing was choppy and the tacked-on thriller nonsense loses our focus from our main character's (Portman) point-of-view.

Lucy in the Sky wastes its talented actors (Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, and Dan Stevens) and dwells on flashy filmmaking. Hawley could have chosen to look at how female astronauts survive in NASA's male-dominated field, rather than a stereotypical plot point of how women are unable to handle their 'emotions'. Retired astronaut Marsha Ivins criticized the premise of the plot and denied that there is such a thing as a "longstanding idea that says astronauts begin to lose their grip on reality after being in space for an extended period of time". The breaking point is how long will audiences sit until they are unable to comprehend any more of this film's shenanigans. A misbegotten mess that will leave viewers frustrated with its anticlimactic space conclusion. In the end, Hawley's directorial debut should have never taken flight. Here's to hoping Lucy in the Sky becomes lost in space.

Lucy in the Sky is rated R (Restricted). For language and some sexual content.

Directed by Noah Hawley

Wasted talents of great actors: Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, and Dan Stevens.