Comments on: Luce Movie Controversy Unpacked and Explained

By: Marie

Marie — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 02:50:52 +0000

Wow. What a movie. It’s clear that he’s a sociopath because he delights in manipulating and seeking revenge, even if it means ruining another person’s career/livelihood. I could tell he was sadistic right off the bat. But I’ve also been in a toxic, emotionally abusive relationship and can spot the signs a mile away now. The mom saving him from consequence is so bad to me, ugh. The fact he shows no remorse for taking revenge – literally lighting a teacher’s classroom on fire – is so scary. This behavior would escalate. Anyway, I thought it was straight forward that he was sociopathic and seeking some type of sadistic revenge for a teacher stereotyping and tokenizing him. Brilliant film. I’m still triggered about the mom and the lengths that mothers go to protect their children, even when they are a risk to society. Like, c’mon moms, do better *sigh*

By: Sandra Schneider

Sandra Schneider — Sat, 27 May 2023 00:21:34 +0000

Just watched the movie. For a movie with no violence, it was really creepy. The mom definitely had it figured out at the end. It was even implied that he killed the original fish. She chose to live in the facade because she had so much invested in Luce as his savior. She became terrified of him only when it served Luce’s best interests to allow it to happen. So, a Sociopath? Yes, I think so. Really, every adult, but the father (and of course, Rose) had an ulterior motive in putting Luce in a box to serve their own needs. I totally agree with you that Luce just learned to be a soldier in a different way. Therapy probably helped show him the best way to do this. The ending was fairly restrained….Don’t know if I would have had the restraint not to have him shout, “My name is _____,” as the last line of the movie.

By: Dorothy Henderson

Dorothy Henderson — Thu, 27 Apr 2023 15:18:21 +0000

This may be the most thought proving film I’ve seen at least in a very long time.
I do think it may be the best argument ever for why it is impartive to look at life through a gray not black or white lens.
I really needed to read your review if for no other reason then to confirm how conflicted I was about who and why the real bad guy was.
My final conclusion is that when you are forced to live in a corrupt society you will end up being a little or a lot croupted too.
I hate coming to this conclusion but sadly at 77 years old seeing what I have seen and continue to see I have no choice.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Sat, 26 Nov 2022 04:47:44 +0000

Liz, you were dead on. I don’t mean to be offensive but it is indeed too complex for most people. Add that with political ideologies clouding critical thinking. It’s actually quite scary.

The only thing you got wrong was that he didn’t rape the Asian girl.

Just to go over again…

Remember, the mom looked at the dad and said “So he covered for his friends” when they were talking in the kitchen. Remember when she was going to come forward? Remember how she wanted to get back with him and said that he was basically the best guy ever. Well, he eventually got back with her and she decided not to go forward with the accusations. Solved that problem and the mother finally figured it out when she caught them together.

Deshawn had the scholarship taken away from him. He had nothing to lose. The teacher said “Who do you get to do your dirty work while you’re out creating an alibi.” This was Deshawn. Luce”s response to her was “It’s not the same.” He was about to cry when he said it as he was realizing that he was part of the problem. That was the admission right there. And it’s quite obvious how he made sure Rosemary was filmed to then clearly try and use it against her when showing his parents on the computer. He also took the fireworks from the spot in the house. He literally told his mom that he was always great at ACTING surprised even when he knew where she was hiding the Christmas presents. The mom figured out everything and wanted to start fresh. The parents covered for him. They even lied about the teacher giving the mom the fireworks. We all saw that. The only question is how he feels about it at the end when he’s running and gives that hard nasty look before the cut.

By: L.R.

L.R. — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 06:07:04 +0000

Just watched the movie and it was thought provoking. Read your review and it cleared up quite a few things for me. I’m still at a lost about Stephanie though. Was she really sexually assaulted? And if so, was Luce one of the culprits? Or did they make that story up to get a particular response from Harriet?

By: Jillian badge

Jillian badge — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 18:14:40 +0000

I found the film disappointing if you have to spend ages working it out it’s not entertainment I thought all the characters were weak and flawed as humans are but again I don’t find it entertaining but I’m the kind of person who refuses to watch films about people dying in the name of entertainment I did feel sorry for the teacher as her experience of racism would have been different to the younger ones in the film and it was annoying in regards to the parents saying we dealt with his problems when he was a child were they serious?? A child solder can that be fixed and put in the past ?! I think the whole lot were delusional and in denial but if causing chaos is the work of evil the main character was definitely bad business

By: anne

anne — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 10:18:26 +0000

I enjoyed the movie.There was a bit going on.I saw it in simpler terms really.The boy who was expelled had drugs in his locker. I assume any student would be expelled for that. I did think Luce was a monster actually.He was just keeping it restrained but only barely. The manipulation was such that his mother and teacher were ultimately scared of him.Although the mother was in denial to a large degree.

By: Mel

Mel — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 05:06:24 +0000

I was just able to watch this film and it was so through provoking that I immediately came to your site to read your take. Loved your review but I think there is one important point that was missed and that is that we are essentially told from the beginning exactly what Luce is doing. The author that he chooses to embody in the assignment from Harriet is Frantz Fanon and although I don’t think they make this clear, it seems as though the book and ideology he is referencing comes from the Wretched of the Earth. I haven’t read this book in about 20 years but from what I can remember many of the themes are what is played out in this film. For example a theme of the book is that the idea of colonization requires a certain dehumanizing of the native and the native responds by rebelling. This is obvious in his almost every adult in the film places each child (Luce, Stephanie, Deshaun) in a box rather than think of them as individuals with real lives. The book also touches on the theme that although decolonization technically means the colonizer is ousted or moves on, they are never truly gone so much as replaced with some power structure or who essentially embodies the same view as the colonizer (e.g. that the lower class is not human). We see this in the film when it becomes clear that Luce has been using others like Stephanie and Deshaun to run his errands, essentially placing them in boxes and using them for his own end in much the same way the adults in the film have. There is also just Fanon’s bigger theme regarding the different groups that develop where you have colonization that are present throughout the film from Luce’s parents (white classic colonizer) to Harriet and Luce (the intellectual class) and Deshaun/Stephanie (proletariat). With that background the movie is even more meaningful and complicated! One of the best I’ve watched in quarantine!

By: JD

JD — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 01:18:14 +0000

Ok. Wow. I came to this discussion directly from viewing the movie and googling “WTF Luce”. I now understand that I mostly understood. Complicated. So are racial issues. So is America.(Jeez .. What possible ending does this have for both racial issues and America?). If all characters had been white .. Or all black.. how would they have viewed each other? (Boring movie either way). And what if God put different colored people in different countries for a reason? And then we – or he – discovered America and made it the great melting pot experiment. What did we have to learn by being born one or the other here?