‘LUZ’ Review

Luz first came to my attention almost exactly one year ago, where the film was playing at Fantasia 2018 (and a few months later at Fantastic Fest) and the trailer that was out was just stunning. Visually it looked like a new discovery from the 1970s, featuring glorious 16mm photography, and it was impossible to tell exactly what the movie was about in the brief clip…but it looks GOOD.

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Now I’ve finally had the chance to see it, and in a lot of ways, it was worth the wait. Luz (Luana Velis) is a cab driver, who one night walks into a large police station, bleeding and mentally disturbed after jumping from her moving vehicle. Simultaneously, Nora (Julia Riedler) meets psychotherapist Dr. Rossini (Jan Bluthardt) at a bar, and after she hypnotically tells him about her schoolmate Luz she gets him progressively more intoxicated. Nora, it turns out, is a little bit possessed by an ancient demonic force who is obsessed with Luz, and Dr. Rossini is now the best way to get to her. The doctor is being paged to the police station for Luz’s mysterious arrival. A hypnotherapy session is about to begin, and it’s a doozy.

This is a first-time feature directorial effort, said to be a student thesis, for writer-director Tilman Singer. This is officially someone that I’ll follow onto whatever he does. His vision is bold, his choices are inspired by masters like Argento, Fulci, and Cronenberg, and his style is hypnotic. This is such a staggering debut, and the only reason why it may not be as heralded as it should be is that the story is presented in a very unusual fashion. As we hear more of Luz’s story, the hypnosis blends with reality to the point where it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. This is absolutely intentional, but it’s bound to put some people off. I had to watch it twice to really grasp what was transpiring, and I’m still not entirely sure if I completely follow. It’s also what one could call leisurely in terms of pacing, and with such a short run time it somehow ends up feeling longer than that should.

All of the actors are great. It’s a visual feast. The last thing worth mentioning is a score from Simon Waskow that you vinyl collectors out there will absolutely want to hunt down. It’s the perfect accent to this utterly strange, fascinating, 70-minute trip. Luz opens in limited release in New York and Los Angeles this Friday, July 19th, with a national expansion to follow courtesy of Screen Media. I highly encourage you to see this theatrically.