Cannes 2025: "Lucky Lu," a race against debt in the streets of New York

FILMMAKERS' FORTNIGHT

Who is hiding behind the furtive silhouette of the food delivery man, this almost invisible agent of the globalized economy who crisscrosses the metropolises in all directions to ensure the connection between points of sale and individuals? Like Boris Lojkine with The Story of Souleymane , Lloyd Lee Choi, a young Korean-Canadian director based in the Brooklyn neighborhood, wanted to give a face, a name, a story to this new figure of the sub-proletariat, through this first feature film which reached the Quinzaine des cinéastes. The film is, moreover, an extension of a previous short film, Same Old , shown in the official selection in 2022.

Lu, whom the title ironically describes as "lucky," is one of these immigrants elbowing their way through the wild delivery market in New York, played by Chang Chen, a famous defector from Hong Kong cinema. We see him in the opening scenes finding the apartment that will allow him to prepare for the arrival of his wife and daughter, Yaya, who have left China.

But as he prepares to welcome them, his work tool, the electric bike rented by his employer, is stolen. The same day, he discovers himself the victim of a rental scam: not only has the deposit provided for his accommodation gone up in smoke, but he also has to pay the caretaker a second time for the lease. The debt is mounting, and time is running out for Lu, who is pounding the streets and knocking on every door to borrow a little money. When his daughter finally arrives, she no longer recognizes him: "Dad doesn't look like Dad . "

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