Review of Lumina: A Science Fiction Horror That Will Make You Doubt Everything

Underdeveloped and unlikeable characters and clumsy pacing detract from the horror-thriller’s fear factor.

Unexpected and disjointed, the film offers an odd viewing experience that leaves spectators bewildered and wondering what it was trying to accomplish.

I can honestly say that I have seldom sat through a film with my jaw down, palms crossed, and eyes open, contemplating what the fuck I just saw. For better or worse, some stories stay with you, and this is Gino McKoy’s first feature, and it’s so strange you have to watch it to believe it. Although advertised as a horror-thriller, Lumina is more of a space adventure with four naive best friends on a tragic quest to save a friend from alien abduction, with elements of a road trip, a government intrigue, and an unexpectedly funny space adventure.

Lumina is an unforgettable viewing experience that will stay with you for a long time, even after you’ve watched it. It will make you wonder things like, “Are aliens real?”, “Whose severed head is that?” and “Can I get my money back?”.

Can You Tell Me About “Lumina”?

Paraphrasing Lumina’s plot in a nutshell would be like trying to describe a confused, nightmare fever dream involving aliens, lost love, and a man who sneezes out what could be an extraterrestrial-implanted microchip. Alex (Rupert Lazarus), Tatiana (Eleanor Williams), Patricia (Sidney Nicole Rogers), Delilah (Andrea Tivadar), and George (Ken Lawson) are the main characters in this film. They are friends-turned-ex-lovers who, following the horrific kidnapping of Tatiana, attempt a daring rescue mission.

Not only does the crew learn more about Tatiana’s enigmatic history, but Alex starts having disturbing memories of her incarceration. This leads them to believe that the government has been hiding evil extraterrestrial activity, and they may even be collaborating with the extraterrestrials. Infested with poorly executed CGI and poorly placed allusions to popular culture, Lumina is an utterly disorganised and bewildering production that will, indeed, render you speechless before you quickly switch it off and seek out something easier to watch.

The Alien Abduction Horror-Thriller ‘Lumina’ Is Devoid of Scares and Excitement.
Andrea Tivadar’s crimson-splattered and wailing Delilah in a LuminaImage shot courtesy of Goldove Pictures
To be honest, Lumina’s terrifyingness doesn’t go very far.

The film does contain some disturbing scenes of naked bodies, like individuals in enormous test tubes, but that’s about it in terms of terrifying sequences; the only other disturbing image is a wheelchair-bound elderly woman who, for some reason, appears to be laughing as foreboding music plays in the background.

Lumina, surprisingly considering the film’s R-rating, avoids all opportunities to frighten the audience. We only get fleeting glimpses of the scary objects or view them from a distance, but the aliens, who sadly resemble something out of a 2003 Halo computer game, get entirely too much screen time. The filmmaker thankfully avoided some risqué material, such as an obviously coming-to-together team hookup, which is a relief. The film’s pace is equally offbeat, with lengthy periods when nothing anything occurs.

Lumina’s Plot Points Are Too Vague
The storyline and the characters that slog through Lumina are both dull and aimless. They mainly just stroll about crying, but the performers pulling it off are totally bringing it. The main issue with these characters is that the women are given very little to do other than be sexually aroused and kidnapped.

In spite of the fact that none of the main characters steal the show, we do get the impression that Alex is a heroic rescuer and that George is his charming but sometimes annoying sidekick. Tatiana, meanwhile, spends all of a few minutes onscreen with her boyfriend before vanishing in a dazzling burst of light (but not before a gratuitous shot of her ass in a swimsuit).

Delilah and Patricia, on the other hand, don’t have any distinguishing characteristics other than Delilah’s obsession with getting Alex back and Patricia’s weakness for George’s strange charisma. Even after Tatiana goes missing, Alex provides the police a description of her, but he still only uses the word “beautiful” to describe her eyes. Alex, where is the woman? Let the police perform their jobs and give them some colour in their eyes.

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Fear not, for there will be comedic relief to remind you not to view these ladies as nothing more than objects at any point throughout the film. In any situation, George is prepared to make an obliquely sexist remark. I don’t know if it’s more or less insulting that neither woman was actually wearing stilettos when he jokes, “Ok ladies, time to shed the stilettos,” as they enter a government facility to get more information about the abductions. Later on, following a violent altercation with an unexplainably cameoing Eric Roberts, the ladies are seen going clothing shopping. George tells Patricia that her current attire is unclean and that she need to definitely remove them. The ladies are sent to create a diversion so that Alex and George may rescue the men, and in the movie’s conclusion, there’s potential for what could have been a half-hearted attempt at a girl power moment. Patricia and Delilah, on the other hand, end up fleeing and hiding for a while as the men battle the aliens and take their weapons. Even though Lumina’s themes of male-centric rescue fantasies aren’t novel or unexpected, it doesn’t make the picture any better.

One Cannot Anticipate What They Will See in “Lumina”

In LuminaImage from Goldove Pictures, we see a bloodied Rupert Lazarus playing the role of Alex, who is shown peering around a corner with his friends blurred in the backdrop.

To change the subject, it is to everyone’s credit that you will never be aware of Lumina’s intended destination. At any second, the film may decapitate a goat or sever your knees (figuratively!). It’s that unexpected. Lumina goes in the opposite direction of what you’d expect it to go, and instead of advancing the plot, it wanders aimlessly for twenty more minutes.

No sense of continuity runs throughout the film, whether it’s due to abrupt cuts or sequences pieced together as if someone had tossed filmstrips on the floor and put them together at random intervals. Be that as it may, the film tries to pack every action movie cliché into its pointless two hours of running time, despite the fact that it is supposedly about alien abduction. Explosions, vehicle chases, and gun battles are plentiful, but the execution is lacking.

Another thing that will make you wonder what the heck happened on Lumina is that McKoy decided to use just his original tunes. The soundtrack, which includes songs like “Everything to me,” “Little Mizz Innocent,” and “Sensy Girl,” appears out of nowhere and adds to the impression that the film is a low-budget vanity production.

Even while it’s admirable that the director composed his own (though certainly appealing) score, it’s ostentatious to play the same songs over and over again even when they don’t fit the scene.

Finally, it’s not obvious if Lumina is anti-government, anti-aliens, or the cinematic arts in general. Prepare to be bewildered, disillusioned, and wishing you had spent the previous two hours doing… anything else if you enter this one anticipating real thrills and an enthralling alien abduction narrative. It may be time to put on your tin foil hat and be whisked away to a confusing galaxy far, far away if you go into Lumina expecting sharknado-level stupidity and student theater-level acting.

poster for the film “Lumina.”
REVIEW

Year 2024: Lumina
Without the shocks and chills it advertises, “Lumina” is just an unclear and disorganised extraterrestrial abduction narrative.