By Seth Lukas Hynes
Lou is a taut character-driven survivalist thriller.
During a heavy storm, Lou (Allison Janney) and her neighbour Hannah (Jurnee Smollett) must track down and rescue the latter’s daughter from her sociopathic father Philip (Logan Marshall-Green).
Janney has a commanding strength and precision as Lou, and the first act succinctly establishes Lou as a hardy, solitary woman with underlying trauma without beating us over the head with back-story. As Lou and Hannah venture into the wilderness to find Hannah’s daughter Vee (Ridley Bateman), Lou’s past is steadily revealed and her skills are tested in short but nail-biting encounters.
Director Anna Foerster shows a strong command of geography, weather and fatigue in her suspense, and the dialogue has a layer of wry wit and an engaging tactical texture. The fight sequences are exciting while being realistically rough and messy. Marshall-Green is a compelling, nuanced antagonist as Philip, a seemingly-loving father who cannot handle any loss of control.
Lou and Hannah grow together across the narrative: the steely Lou shows suppressed care and concern for Hannah and Vee, and Hannah becomes more confident and focused. Well-seeded details return in clever ways later on, and the climax is a satisfying culmination of violence, cunning and family ties. The only weak link in the plot is the somewhat nebulous connection between Lou and Philip.
Lou is a lean, brutal thriller with rich dialogue and character writing, and is available for streaming on Netflix.
– Seth Lukas Hynes
