Sundance Drama 'Luce' Is All out Psychological Warfare

Since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, the Julius Onah-helmed film Luce has been the topic of discussion.

Starring Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer, the film sees the two waging an emotional war in the tense thriller. Spencer plays a high school teacher, Ms. Wilson, who discovers some disturbing things about the school’s star athlete, Luce (played by Kelvin Harrison Jr. who stared in A24’s It Comes at Night). Watts and Tim Roth play Luce’s well-respected parents, who adopted him from a war-torn country 10 years prior.

“Last week, he wrote a paper in which he argued that violence was a necessary cleansing force,” Spencer tells Watts in the trailer above. “She thinks I’m a poster boy black kid who overcame his tragic past,” Luce tells his parents in the preview. ” You don’t conform to what she wants, and, suddenly, I’m the enemy.” The visuals go on to showcase the physiological warfare that is happening between the characters as the plot thickens to involve violent threats, break-ins, past conspiracies and more.

The official synopsis for Luce reads:

“An all-star high school athlete and accomplished debater, Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is a poster boy for the new American Dream. As are his parents (Naomi Watts and Tim Roth), who adopted him from a war-torn country a decade earlier. When Luce’s teacher (Octavia Spencer) makes a shocking discovery in his locker, Luce’s stellar reputation is called into question. But is he really at fault, or is Ms. Wilson preying on dangerous stereotypes?”

Luce, which has been adapted from JC Lee’s acclaimed stage play, hits theaters August 2. The film was a nominee for the Grand Jury Prize.

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