Lucky Lu

This riveting feature debut from Korean Canadian writer-director Lloyd Lee Choi (Same Old, TIFF ’22 Short Cuts) encompasses the hardships faced by thousands of working-class immigrants by focusing on 48 nerve-wracking hours in the life of a single desperate man. Anchored by a bravura lead performance from Chang Chen (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, TIFF ’00), Lucky Lu is neorealism for the 21st century.

New York food delivery driver Lu (Chang) has been in the US for five years, hanging onto his dream of running a restaurant while doing whatever it takes to get by. As Lucky Lu begins, Lu has just acquired his first apartment, a sparsely furnished one-bedroom with a single window that lets in morning light. And he has found the place just in time — his wife (Fala Chen, also at this year’s Festival in Ballad of a Small Player) and daughter (Carabelle Manna Wei) are on their way from China. “A new place. A new beginning,” says his landlord. But Lu’s fresh start will prove agonizingly difficult to secure.

Not long after he collects the keys, Lu’s e-bike is stolen, depriving him of his ability to work. He rushes from place to place, asking favours, seeking loans, pawning what few possessions he can. Then he discovers his apartment was rented under false pretenses. After all these years apart, will Lu’s family even have a place to live?

As its hero navigates a Job-like scenario, Lucky Lu’s perspective gradually widens to reveal a larger network of immigrant communities struggling to forge new lives. All the while, Choi emphasizes the things no one can take away from Lu and all those like him: perseverance and dignity.

ROBYN CITIZEN