Oh Lucy!
Film Movement | Release Date: March 2, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
69
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMay 31, 2018
This is director Atsuko Hirayanagi’s feature-length debut (based on her own short film), and it is a most impressive first effort. Oh Lucy! is quirky and offbeat and strange and sometimes quite dark — and yet oddly lovable. Read full review
80
Village VoiceSerena DonadoniMar 1, 2018
Hirayanagi acknowledges that reinvention isn’t as simple as trading Setsuko’s messy stagnation for Lucy’s zany possibility. What Setsuko fears most is losing everything, but that may be her best option. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisFeb 28, 2018
A movie in which the human comedy is by turns tender, plaintive, heartfelt and joyful. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoMar 14, 2018
It’s a testament to the skill of first-time feature director Atsuko Hirayanagi that these wild mood swings can co-exist without blowing the movie apart. Read full review
75
Washington PostKristen Page-KirbyMar 7, 2018
“Eat Pray Love” this isn’t. Although Lucy is on a journey of self-discovery, she often hurts others in her quest for herself. That makes Hirayanagi’s take on the later-in-life coming-of-age story more honest than most. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughMar 7, 2018
The message is clear, if not original: stray from the herd and you’re dead. What makes Hirayanagi’s iteration of this familiar theme appealing are the quirky characters, the nuanced performances, and the curious cultural topography of Tokyo. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 15, 2018
It’s weird, sometimes challenging and surprisingly engaging, thanks in large part to Terajima, who is outstanding. Read full review
70
TheWrapInkoo KangMar 2, 2018
Writer-director Hirayanagi runs into a few minor pacing miscalculations, but Oh Lucy!, based on her 2014 short of the same name, is a tense, observant, and heartfelt accomplishment. Read full review
70
Screen DailyNikki BaughanMar 1, 2018
There’s pleasingly little sentimentality and much honesty to be found in Hirayanagi’s screenplay, particularly in its acknowledgement that new experiences can make you lose, as much as broaden, your mind. Read full review
70
VarietyAndrew BarkerMar 1, 2018
Most of Oh Lucy! passes by breezily, and in different hands this could easily be a crowdpleasing comedy...but when Hirayanagi opts to plunge deeper, you realize the darkness has been there waiting all along. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangMar 1, 2018
Within the confines of this cross-cultural shaggy-dog tale, Hirayanagi locates both a sharp vein of absurdist comedy and a bitter, melancholy undertow. She also has a deft enough touch to make one mode almost indistinguishable from the other. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerApr 18, 2018
Not every aspect is as exquisitely structured as Terajima's bittersweet performance. An underlying subtext about reinvention never truly develops, and the idea of Lucy as Setsuko's alter ego stutters. But her performance, especially when matched by Minami's hard-sighing world-weariness, is nothing less than transfixing. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 2, 2018
Setsuko’s pathetic attempt to claim a new life for herself is touching. The film never makes fun of her. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyMar 2, 2018
Director and co-writer (with Boris Yutsin) Atsuko Hirayanagi has a knack for staging scenes in a way that makes them intriguingly uncomfortable, but that doesn’t succeed in elevating Oh Lucy! from some of its more commonplace features. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 1, 2018
Oh Lucy! is a slight comedy of offbeat, culture clash charms with a dark, flinty edge. It benefits from spot-on casting, testy-funny situations and cultural stereotypes that well up just below the surface, stereotypes popped almost the moment they’re exposed. Read full review
63
Slant MagazinePeter GoldbergFeb 27, 2018
Atsuko Hirayanagi's feature-length directorial debut offers a surprising take on the tricky art of communication. Read full review
60
The GuardianXan BrooksMar 1, 2018
Oh Lucy!’s plot feels overthought. The tone see-saws wildly. What prevents it collapsing are the warm, heartfelt performances, together with Hirayanagi’s obvious affection for her chief protagonist. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMar 1, 2018
While it's uneven, and at times seems almost artless in its craft, the story has an idiosyncratic charm that pays off in an unexpectedly touching ending. Read full review
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