Lucy in the Sky (Review)
Lucy in the Sky is the second movie in as many weeks focused on a protagonist slowly losing grip on their sanity. It also happens to be nowhere near as good as the other. Inspired by the story of disgraced astronaut Lisa Novack, the film takes enough liberties not to be a direct biography (there is no scene with diapers in it). However, Lucy in the Sky struggles when it comes to its portrayal of the titular Lucy’s spiral into her mental breakdown. My guess is that it is probably because novice director Noah Hawley has no idea how to properly explain why Lucy is suffering from her existential crisis which has been brought on by the sheer overwhelming vastness she sees in space. The end result is a film filled with heavy-handed metaphors overly reliant on a performance from a stellar actress in order to work. Unfortunately, like Lucy, it’s a weight that’s too much for one person to bear.
There have been a slew of serious space movies in recent years from Ad Astra to First Man, and Lucy in the Sky seems like it should fit the trend perfectly. It tells the tale of an astronaut (Natalie Portman) whose mind is absolutely blown by the vast void that is space. Struggling to see the significance in everyday life when the world seems so small now, she begins to collapse as she searches for some new sense of meaning. Her crises leads her down a dark path riddled with self-destructive mistakes as she pours everything into trying to get back into space once more.
The best part of Lucy in the Sky is Portman’s performance as the troubled astronaut. She spends most of her scenes staring off into space, lost in thought as life goes on around her. These dissociative moments build until she can no longer internalize her struggle and lashes out at life around her, desperate for some sense of control and understanding. This conflict builds as she starts an affair with a fellow astronaut (John Hamm) and internally villainizes a rival (Zazie Beetz). The problem is that even though Portman puts her all into the character, the film has no idea how to really outwardly express her internal struggles. Instead, it shapes her to be an unsympathetic character in her blatant self-centeredness and disregard for anyone else. Everything becomes about her and her need to be the best because if she isn’t then she’s nothing. That quest though, results in a character who cares little for the collateral damage she inflicts around her and that, more than anything else makes her into a villain.
As wretched as Lucy is in the film, I found most of the characters in it to be dislikeable. Hamm is a womanizing hotshot living large on the fact that he’s “an American hero” just because he went to space. Her husband, played by Drew Cola, is almost insufferable in his kindness and understanding, refusing to stand up for himself or confront his wife in order to get her the help that she so desperately needs. Then there is Lucy’s horrendous grandmother, Ellen Burstyn, who is as toxic as it comes with her judgemental attitude and snide remarks. The unfortunate side effect of this is it leaves the audience searching for someone with some sense of genuine nobility and morality and no one seems capable of stepping up to the plate. Even Lucy herself seems hellbent on blaming everyone around her for her mistakes. Given that we are watching portrayals of what are supposed to be America’s heroes, it is ironic that neither the writers or director could add even one decent person to the script.
I can see what director Noah Hawley was trying to accomplish with Lucy in the Sky. The film heavily features the theme of change, especially the positive and negative aspects of it. It’s a legitimate concept (albeit hardly original) because everyone changes over time. Lucy changes after seeing the endless void that is our universe and that’s pretty clear given her journey throughout the film. However, Lucy in the Sky also shoehorns in a butterfly metaphor, focusing on the aspect that in order for a caterpillar to become a butterfly, it first must destroy itself. It’s a fare allegory, but hardly enough to base a film around. More importantly, I think this is yet one more example of a film trying to show insight into a woman’s mind without having any input from a woman (the director and writers are all men). The end result is a shallow exploration of a woman losing her sense of identity and self-worth.
Lucy in the Sky has high aspirations but fails to meet any of them. Instead, it fumbles about trying to reach for the stars but never manages to get off the ground. Hawley resorts to gimmicks with frame ratio to show skewed perception instead of focusing on key moments when the characters lose sight of themselves. It appears to rely solely on Portman’s outstanding skill, but there’s too much weight put on her shoulders to carry this film. Hell, I don’t think anyone could really carry this all the way to the end. Lucy in the Sky definitely could have used more of a woman’s touch in order to make it a worthwhile journey. Instead, it’s a failure to launch.
