The Asian Cinema Critic

Style takes firm precedence over substance in Flora Lau’s sophomore drama.

“Hope you catch the deer.”

It’s difficult to tell what Luz, Flora Lau’s artsy, philosophical second feature is about at first. There are a few moving parts at first, and none of them seem to connect. The first character we’re introduced to who isn’t a glass deer is a man named Wei (Guo Xiaodong), who has been released from prison and is searching for his estranged daughter in Chongqing. His daughter is a live streamer with whom he attempts to communicate. He works at a karaoke bar which hosts an original painting worth several million.

The painter’s daughter is a woman named Ren (Sandrine Pinna), who runs a gallery and whose general malaise in life brings her to Paris. Her stepmother Sabine (Isabelle Hubert) lives there as an artist, and refuses any treatments for a brain aneurysm. Wei and Ren meet in a virtual reality game called Luz while Wei continues his search.

Luz is a weird film. It has a lot going for it, but more often than not feels a bit … hollow. There’s certainly enough plot to carry it through its runtime, but none of it ever feels like it goes anywhere. Both Wei and Ren are going on these emotional journeys, but the audience isn’t really privy to what’s going on in their minds. Wei’s character journey is a bit more straightforward, but it’s also not hugely satisfying.

He finds his daughter online, twice, and then talks to her. Meanwhile Ren contends with the idea of her stepmother’s illness and that it might leave her an orphan. Sabine was a major player in her and her father’s life, and Sandrine Pinna plays this inner turmoil well. The script just feels a bit half-baked and doesn’t quite support what it wants to say.

Lau’s visual style is the film’s biggest strength. She imbues every frame with a dreamlike quality, perfectly blending real life with the near-identical virtual world through interesting CGI particle effects and dissolves. The haunting, ethereal nature of the film speaks more about the characters’ states of mind than the dialogue ever could. It just feels like a lot of it is left up to interpretation and not in the good way. We’re in luck that the actors know what they’re doing and are all playing these characters who might be impenetrable, but they feel at least very real.

We’re left wondering why anyone really does what they’re doing and why anyone, let alone so many people would spend all of their time in what appears to be an deer hunting simulator. Finding the deer doesn’t seem to accomplish anything, as I doubt every player in the game will get an epiphany from hunting it. The film is cool. And very stylish. But it just doesn’t have as much to say as it wants.  

Verdict: Luz looks good, and its hypnotic style will keep you entranced, even if it’s a touch more shallow than it would want.

Overall entertainment: 6/10
Violence: 0/10
Sex: Not even in a private chat/10
Luz, the game: Hyper realistic graphics, awful gameplay
Sabine: She’s nice, but would drive me up the wall if I knew her in real life

Luz (2025)
Mandarin, French

Director: Flora Lau
Writer: Flora Lau

CAST

Sandrine Pinna – Ren
Guo Xiaodong – Wei
Isabelle Huppert – Sabine
Huang Lu – Hong
David Chiang – Boss Qiu
Deng Enxi – Fa
Ren Yu – Ma
Zhang Yunyao – Gang
Mimi Xu – Mimi
Yvette Tang – Lan
Kaori Ito – dancer
Aric Chen – A.I. bartender
Wong Ping – A.I. bartender 2