Guadi Rabino
Staff Writer
Contrary to its title, there’s nothing “lucid” about Netflix’s newest addition thriller “Lucid Dream.”
“Lucid Dream,” Korean mystery/thriller film leaves the audience unsatisfied with mediocre acting and character development as well as cliche plot. However the film makes up for its flaws with its incredible cinematography.
The film’s poor selection of actors made the audience feel a lack of connection to the characters. The leading actor, Song Bang-Sub who plays Sol Kyung-Gu, the father of the abducted son, had an extremely important job yet he had an extremely bland performance that showed little emotion throughout the entire film.
Click here to read more about the movie’s plot
The film lacked largely in its character development mainly due to the protagonists never ending obsessive search for his missing son. Due to this intense concentration on the disappearance of the main character’s son, the protagonist had little to no room to grow. This made for a lack of interest in the connection of the characters.
Aside from its subpar acting, the film’s attempt at advertising the movie was nothing short of unsatisfactory. Although the movie was advertised as sci-fi the movie proved to be yet another typical mystery story about a distressed parent attempting to find his child’s abductor.
Click here to watch the movie’s trailer
The story follows an investigative journalist who seeks to track down his abducted son. With the help of his psychiatrist, he undergoes lucid dreaming in order to properly remember the incidents of the abduction.
Initially, the plot story seemed to have amazing potential for an overall great film. However as the story further developed, it quickly began to resemble the Taken series and the plot quickly lacked originality.
Regardless of it’s below average characters and it’s predictable plot, Lucid Dream had its strengths, particularly in the special effects. In order to properly portray what the protagonist sees in his lucid dreams, the film had various subtle effects over the lucid dreaming scenes that caused for a perfectly balanced portrayal.
Click here to see pictures from the thriller “Luckd Dream”
The scenes in which the father was dreaming were tinted yellow and slightly blurred all while keeping the dark, mysterious aesthetic of the film intact. Regardless of the filter’s seemingly happy toned hues, the movie never strayed from its thriller aspect.
Lucid Dream heavily disappointed with its unimpressive character development and inadequate lead actors. Although the plot was extremely foreseeable yet the film made up for it with its subtle yet impeccable special effects.
Click to see senior Harrison Mayesh’s reaction to the Korean film.
Lucid Dream released in the US on June 2, iis available to stream on Netflix.
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