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Lucy

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Lucy

R

Released Jul 25, 2014

1h 28m

Action

Mystery & Thriller

Sci-Fi

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Popcornmeter

67%

Tomatometer

234 Reviews

47%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

When a boyfriend tricks Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) into delivering a briefcase to a supposed business contact, the once-carefree student is abducted by thugs who intend to turn her into a drug mule. She is surgically implanted with a package containing a powerful chemical, but it leaks into her system, giving her superhuman abilities, including telekinesis and telepathy. With her former captors in pursuit, Lucy seeks out a neurologist (Morgan Freeman), who she hopes will be able to help her.

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Critics Consensus

Enthusiastic and silly, Lucy powers through the movie's logic gaps with cheesy thrills plus Scarlett Johansson's charm -- and mostly succeeds at it.

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Emily St. James

Vox

It's a film that takes great delight in her essentially co-opting a long series of tropes and storylines typically reserved for men in stories of this type, which is an old trope in the feminist action movie wheelhouse.

Sep 26, 2016

Full Review

David Sims

The Atlantic

let it grab you by the noodle and zap you into its whacked-out vision of human existence. You'll feel much better for it, I promise.

Sep 22, 2016

Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

Say what you will about 'Lucy,' which is an absurdly silly and sometimes aggressively stupid movie, but it's at least interested in showing us something new.

Jun 18, 2016

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Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

It's basically a fantasy wrapped in the guise of science and used as an excuse for an action thriller, but what a thriller. This is a kinetic explosion at its best with Johansson striding through it with a sense of drive and assuredness...

May 6, 2023

Full Review

Vadim Rizov

Filmmaker Magazine

Lucy‘s two strands co-exist, intercut but separate; the pleasure is in ricocheting between two incompatible elements for an entire movie, making those blunt opening juxtapositions surprisingly indicative of what’s to come.

Jan 24, 2023

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

Besson packs a lot of ideas into the brief 89-minute runtime, but he should've spent another 20 minutes on character development.

Rated: 2.5/4

Aug 5, 2022

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John A

Think 'Limitless' but this time less American. Auteur Luc Besson revisits the femme fatale trope with some mind-tingling Matrix-esque gestures, slick editing and action scenes that will either impress or mildly exasperate.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

05/12/25

Full Review

Del R

Personally, I loved the movie. It was a new premise which is always fun to find in a sci-fi movie. Sure. It had lots of cheesy one liners but that's what made it fun. Probably not for people with limited imagination. But when it comes to the brain the sky is truly the limit, but then again, maybe not.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/11/25

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Liam B

This is the worst movie I've seen in years. It's makes no sense even though they're a great actors and there's basically zero plot. Terrible movie. Don't watch it. Don't know what the director was thinking 🤔.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

05/05/25

Full Review

Tanaputz J

Well, if you take the "sci" out of sci-fi, and you liked the rediculous conflicts between "the good guys vs. the bad guys" in Rambo style movies, then boy, is this ever for you! I like to suspend belief once in a while as much as the next person, but c'mon...make it so that I still feel a LITTLE smarter than my dog when I do, ok? Next....

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/22/25

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Raymond C

Another Limitless type film that checks all the boxes. Be prepared to do some research on the brain.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/16/25

Full Review

Andy F

Wasted opportunity. What separates humans from lower lifeforms? Our emotions. So why does Lucy essentially become a robot? The plot could have seen her have heightened emotions as well as heightened intellect and heightened physicality. It also could have ditched the telekinesis and other supernatural nonsense. In other words, it could have attempted to be plausible sci-fi, but instead in went the route of so many action movies, which was to prioritize "coolness." Action heroes have to be emotionless and invincible, right? That's what modern action movies (which includes superhero movies) have taught us. But I will always cite Die Hard as the ultimate action movie, for one very specific reason: John McClain has emotions. He has fears. He can be hurt. He bleeds. He doubts. Modern movies give us no reason to be emotionally invested in superheroes, because they can't lose. Just as Lucy can't lose. She's emotionless, omniscient (except when the story doesn't want her to be) and omnipotent. This movie caters to viewers who think that special effects and emotionless heroes are cool. Bah. Take your "cool" and shove it. Realism is cool. The more believable the action in a movie, the better it is. Show me heroes who are afraid. Show me heroes who can bleed. Why should I care about an impervious robot?

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

04/12/25

Full Review

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Luc Besson

Director

Scarlett Johansson

Lucy

Morgan Freeman

Professor Samuel Norman

Choi Min-sik

Mr. Jang

Amr Waked

Capt. Pierre Del Rio

Julian Rhind-Tutt

The Limey

Lucy: Official Clip - Time is the Answer

1:41

Lucy: Official Clip - Learning's a Painful Process

2:52

Lucy: Official Clip - I've Never Driven Before

2:28

Lucy: Official Clip - I Am Everywhere

3:01

Lucy: Official Clip - Self-Management

2:11

Lucy: Official Clip - Crossing the Spacetime Continuum

3:02

Lucy: Official Clip - A New Lucy

2:24

Lucy: Official Clip - I Feel Everything

1:03

Lucy: Official Clip - A Higher Purpose

3:22

Lucy: Official Clip - Give Me the Case

2:07

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Synopsis

When a boyfriend tricks Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) into delivering a briefcase to a supposed business contact, the once-carefree student is abducted by thugs who intend to turn her into a drug mule. She is surgically implanted with a package containing a powerful chemical, but it leaks into her system, giving her superhuman abilities, including telekinesis and telepathy. With her former captors in pursuit, Lucy seeks out a neurologist (Morgan Freeman), who she hopes will be able to help her.

Director: Luc Besson
Producer: Virginie Silla
Screenwriter: Luc Besson
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: Cine+, Canal+, TF1 Films Productions, EuropaCorp
Rating: R (Sexuality|Disturbing Images|Strong Violence)
Genre: Action, Mystery & Thriller, Sci-Fi
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 25, 2014, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): May 17, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $126.5M
Runtime: 1h 28m

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