Lucy in the Sky

Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: October 4, 2019

4.4	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Ratings

USER RATING DISTRIBUTION

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Watch Now

Stream On

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Review this movie

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Please sign in or create an account before writing a review.

Check box if your review contains spoilers

0 characters (5000 max)

User Reviews

User score By date Most helpful

TVJerryOct 14, 2019

Writer/director Noah Hawley created 2 of the most interesting TV series of the last few seasons: LEGION and FARGO. He's hit the big screen with less success. Natalie Portman plays an astronaut who's space mission changes her life. When sheWriter/director Noah Hawley created 2 of the most interesting TV series of the last few seasons: LEGION and FARGO. He's hit the big screen with less success. Natalie Portman plays an astronaut who's space mission changes her life. When she returns to Earth, she can't seem to connect. Portman remains an accomplished actor, creating a damaged character that's a bit original and mostly compelling. Sadly, the script doesn't pack the wallop that would give her journey any emotional impact. Plus, some of the visual tricks that Hawley used in LEGION seem unnecessary here. This film is never dull, but never enthralling either.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

All this user's reviews

Brent_MarchantOct 6, 2019

What starts out as a promising tale of personal discovery regrettably turns hard to believe, almost campy, in the second half. Despite the film's fact-based nature, its story line degenerates into an overwritten, overacted debacle that almostWhat starts out as a promising tale of personal discovery regrettably turns hard to believe, almost campy, in the second half. Despite the film's fact-based nature, its story line degenerates into an overwritten, overacted debacle that almost becomes laughable at times, the otherwise-fine performance of Natalie Portman notwithstanding. Truly a missed opportunity to tell a story with some depth and meaning in an unlikely setting.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

All this user's reviews

The3AcademySinsOct 15, 2019

Lucy in the Sky starts off okay, but quickly devolves into a lazy, try-hard story about a woman who is losing her mind. Natalie Portman is good, but the rest of the movie isn't. Don't waste your time here.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

All this user's reviews

GrantD243Oct 16, 2019

I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that astronauts can be changed and affected by their experiences in space. Physical changes are guaranteed, but mental changes are likely as well. Lucy in the Sky tries to capture this through itsI don't think it's a surprise to anyone that astronauts can be changed and affected by their experiences in space. Physical changes are guaranteed, but mental changes are likely as well. Lucy in the Sky tries to capture this through its portrayal of Lisa Nowak's wild story. And in a couple of ways, it succeeds. Lucy's initial struggle to re-adjust to life on Earth and her longing to fill the emptiness that she feels inside is portrayed effectively. And this film does nail the visual aspect fairly well. The visuals when she gets lost in her thoughts make what could be a dull moment far more interesting, and there are some nice shots sprinkled throughout. The often-changing aspect ratio is a respectable attempt at helping us get a better idea of what's going on in Lucy's head, but...does it really help? No, it doesn't add anything of actual substance. If anything, it made me take my focus off of what was actually happening on the screen and instead watch the edges of the shot widen or narrow.

It's clear Noah Hawley got a bit lost at some point. I don't know if it was in the writing or editing process, but he found himself focusing too much on trying to portray meaning through visual aspects and on-the-nose metaphors, and less on telling the story well. The timeline also gets extremely crunched in the third act, and the addition of her niece to the story was such an odd decision. She serves no purpose, at all. In fact, she actually made the story worse. Incredible.

This film already wasn't heading towards a standing ovation, but the third act fell so flat I darted out of my seat and out of the theater when the credits rolled.

Also...where was the diaper? That's like, I don't know, one of the main details that made this story outrageous and newsworthy in the beginning?… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

All this user's reviews

GreatMartinOct 15, 2019

Was it titled "Lucy In The Sky" just so a few lines of the Beatles' song could be sung? Maybe.

I hadn't been to a movie theatre for 11 days and though I watch movies on TV it isn't the same! My choices were "Jexi" which I would have liked toWas it titled "Lucy In The Sky" just so a few lines of the Beatles' song could be sung? Maybe.

I hadn't been to a movie theatre for 11 days and though I watch movies on TV it isn't the same! My choices were "Jexi" which I would have liked to have seen but the schedule was wrong or "Joker"--NO WAY!---or "Lucy In The Sky". I like Natalie Portman when I see her but I usually don't go to a movie just because she is in it so off I went.

"Inspired by real events" the names have been changed---to use the title song?---and is based on a female astronaut attacking a lover who has been seeing another woman.

The picture starts off showing Lucy (Portman) in space, lost in thought and asking for just a few minutes more. After landing, and at the first opportunity, she signs up for another trip not comfortable on earth anymore with her husband (Dan Stevens). In a brief conversation they decide she will have another child after she returns from the next trip but she knows that will never happen and so the affair with Mark (Jon Hamm), another astronaut, starts. It is here the film goes completely off track.

Lucy looks, feels different, even states that she never felt so alive and instead of following why the change, what happens physically and mentally when you go into space, we get into the melodrama.

The script by Noah Hawley, who also directs, Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi misses the chance to approach a space movie from a different and interesting angle. Hawley's direction does many tricks with the camera to try and see Lucy's big world out in space and the small world she has returned to only making the screen annoying.

Natalie Portman does fine as does Dan Stevens and Jon Hamm but Ellen Burstyn is wasted, as is the title tune!

"Lucy In The Sky" is too long at 126 minutes to hold your interest but as your mind wanders what it could have been helps the time past.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

JLuis_001Dec 21, 2019

It was an interesting premise that doesn't land all its ideas. Undoubtedly Natalie Portman was committed to the role but the rest is quite inconsequential, which was a shame because I really wanted to like this one.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

PurpleCrayon4UDec 18, 2019

Good Gosh - This Is Nothing But A Sex Movie - Lucy In The Sky was supposed to be science fiction, and I was all set to watch some great special effects - instead all I got was a movie about sex. Sex and infidelity and not being a good wifeGood Gosh - This Is Nothing But A Sex Movie - Lucy In The Sky was supposed to be science fiction, and I was all set to watch some great special effects - instead all I got was a movie about sex. Sex and infidelity and not being a good wife and not being a good mother and not being a good daughter......and bees. Seriously, Noah Hawley should have done a 'based upon a true story' paint-by-the-numbers directorial debut instead of throwing facts away and creating a fantasy piece that everyone hated. Natalie Portman gives an outstanding performance but everyone else, including the great Jon Hamm, just phoned in their parts. Oh yes - Ellen Burstyn - 'nuff said.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

All this user's reviews

Cortez12Oct 5, 2019

This movie was GARBAGE. A REAL PIECE OF **** HOW DARE THEY WASTE OUR TIME WITH DIS FILTH

2 of 4 users found this helpful22

All this user's reviews

FilmreactiviewOct 4, 2019

LUCY IN THE SKY Release October 4th, 2019

Audience REACTIONS at its World PREMIERE:

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

All this user's reviews

MattBrady99Feb 1, 2021

I saw someone online say this is better than 'Interstellar', and that statement alone nearly made me hurl.

Like, in what way is this boring drivel better? I watched this on a plane last year, before the COVID outbreak where you could goI saw someone online say this is better than 'Interstellar', and that statement alone nearly made me hurl.

Like, in what way is this boring drivel better?

I watched this on a plane last year, before the COVID outbreak where you could go anywhere, good times. Anywhere, even on a flight journey this couldn't hold my interest.

I liked the TV show 'Legion', a show created by Noah Hawley, but man his directing here is so terrible. Every choice he made was the worst. The number of times the aspect ratio keeps changing I thought I was watching 'Transformers: The Last Knight' again.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews

aurora1Jan 15, 2021

Lucy in the Sky alerts the audience that the film is inspired by real events, but there is very little of those events in this movie, thankfully. On the one hand we have an astronaut, Lisa Nowak, whose career is paved by brilliant successes,Lucy in the Sky alerts the audience that the film is inspired by real events, but there is very little of those events in this movie, thankfully. On the one hand we have an astronaut, Lisa Nowak, whose career is paved by brilliant successes, she is the flagship of NASA and an example of female emancipation to look upon with admiration, until the tragic moment when she loses her mind because of a love affair and shows one side of her personality that is not quite edifying: she cheats on her husband with a colleague who is also married, then when he ditches her for another woman she tries to kidnap - and perhaps kill? - the new flame of her ex lover. A crime story mainly remembered for the embarrassing detail of the diapers used by the woman in order to drive without having to stop, during the 900 miles towards the destination of her criminal project. From hero to zero in the blink of an eye. On the other hand, the movie's protagonist is portrayed as a victim: of an almost exclusively male professional world and of a lover who does not treat her with respect and even jeopardizes her work. The astronaut depicted on the screen, played by a magnificent Natalie Portman, is a figure to look at with compassion, a bright star that inexorably collapses under our eyes piece by piece: initially splendid in her space suit, pathetic rag doll with a ridiculous blonde wig at the end, as she attempts to attack her ex boyfriend. In between, the dream of flying, shared by both the real and the imaginary protagonists, rendered on the screen with delicate and poetic touches by director Noah Hawley. A broken dream, which is powerfully symbolized by the scene of a cocoon from which emerges not a butterfly but a gruesome handful of flies. But there is more than space missions out there, and our heroine will end finding a purpose in the microcosm of a bee farm (and how similar to a spacesuit is the beekeeping suit!)… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews

Mauro_LanariJun 18, 2021

(Mauro Lanari)
In 1877 Tolstoy wrote that "this whole world of ours is only a speck of mildew sprung up on a tiny planet" ("Anna Karenina", IV, VII). Unbelievable but true, such a consideration never required references to real facts of the(Mauro Lanari)
In 1877 Tolstoy wrote that "this whole world of ours is only a speck of mildew sprung up on a tiny planet" ("Anna Karenina", IV, VII). Unbelievable but true, such a consideration never required references to real facts of the 2000s and even less to the experience of a NASA astronaut. "It's cortisol, oxytocin, dopamine. It's a trick. It's like believing in God." Cool.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

All this user's reviews