Anya Taylor-Joy shines in Lucky, Apple TV+'s fast-paced crime thriller. Here's why it's worth adding to your watch list next.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance as Lucky is fantastic. Picture: Supplied
There are thrillers, and then there are thrilling thrillers. Lucky, now streaming on Apple TV, is the latter.
Plain and simple, it’s addictively action-packed, and while it’s dotted with some flaws, it’s a good time in front of the box. That’s guaranteed.
Lucky Armstrong is played by the incredible Anya Taylor-Joy. She’s a skilled con artist who learnt much of her craft from her imprisoned dad. But more about him later.
The show opens with Lucky and her lover, Cary, in Las Vegas. They’ve just pulled off a massive heist and are celebrating on the roof of Caesar’s Palace.
But, beyond the passionate celebration, viewers are immediately dunked into Lucky’s new reality, the morning after. Cary’s disappeared, and so has the ten million dollars they thieved.
What follows is a fast-paced action narrative as Lucky is pursued by the FBI and other chasers who want the money that she and Cary stole. This, while he goes on the hunt for Cary.
Crime boss Priscilla, a fantastically carved-out character who marries cruelty with etiquette and upper-class snoot, is after the money. Her principal, and even bigger mobster, is after her for the cash. And to make things even more complicated, Priscilla is mom to Cary.
It’s easy to see the intrigue, and the hunter-being-the-hunted quickly forms the premise of the plot.
On the run from multiple chasers
Lucky races across the States to evade law enforcement and, of course, the badder and baddest-ass criminals after her.
Cary is one step ahead of her as she closes in on his escape plan.
In between, we see how she cons her way through surviving what feels like quite an onerous, adrenaline-filled journey to, well, goodness knows where. She’s drifting and grifting with intent.
Meanwhile, her dad John, played by Timothy Olyphant, supports her from prison while also revealing his relationship with Priscilla in between.
It’s a lekker plot, but what really sets it apart from other thrillers is Taylor-Joy’s performance.
At the start of the show, it’s easy to quickly decide that Lucky’s sexiness is a vacuous excuse to craft a B-grade thriller.
But by the 20th minute into the first episode, you’ll change your mind.
Lucky is almost feline in her demeanour and Taylor-Joy’s performance plays with preconceived notions, injects just enough vulnerability into her character to make Lucky likeable, yet drives a thread of Bruce Willis toughness throughout.
It’s honestly a spectacular piece of acting. The support cast, also stellar in their own right, carry her on their shoulders throughout.
Watch the trailer
What’s also really interesting is the subtext that explores whether Lucky can rid herself of a life of crime and deception.
It’s defined her life since a young age when dad John taught her the art of the steal.
She confronts themes like betrayal, loyalty, the outcome and consequences of decisions that she has made in the past and how we are all, actually, faced with the daily option to forge a different future for ourselves.
There are many doors that can open from one simple decision alone, and we get to watch Lucky make them.
Taylor-Joy’s exceptional feline performance
Where the series falls a bit flat is in its storytelling.
At times it can feel a little disjointed, and the pacing of the narrative is somewhat like a jerky car.
It’s an uneven watch with stretches of action and potholes of distracting bored moments in between.
The direction is adequate, but again, sometimes it feels as if Taylor-Joy’s performance, along with the rest of the cast, could have been restrained somewhat when some moments should have exploded on screen.
Despite its uneven pacing, Lucky succeeds because it never loses sight of the woman at the centre of the chaos.
Taylor-Joy delivers a magnetic performance that keeps you invested even when the storytelling segues sometimes.
If you’re looking for an entertaining crime thriller with plenty of action, dark humour and a lead character you’ll struggle to take your eyes off, Lucky earns its place on the watch list.
Apple TV’s presently releasing one episode a week until mid-August when the entire series will be available for binge-watching.
