“What would you do if you had one million dollars?” This age-old question recurs even today, often driving people to some dangerous extremes in order to make money. Promising to be “based on the American dream,” Your Lucky Day is a twisted modern thriller wrapped in a morality fable. Dedicated to the late Angus Cloud, one of the actor’s final films brings a grim sliver of reality to the forefront of the conversation. The cost of wealth may not be worth the risk it takes to attain it in the first place. Your Lucky Day shines a spotlight on Cloud’s insurmountable talent, reminding viewers that he was taken from us far too soon.
It is 2017, and the Mega Ball lottery has ballooned up to $156 million. At this point, the lucky winner will essentially inherit a goldmine. Drug dealer Sterling (Cloud) gets mugged in the opening scene, then ends up at Sip ’N Go convenience store to lay low and figure some things out. He overhears a cocky elite freaking out over having the winning lottery numbers. Pouncing on his chance to nab the winning ticket, Sterling makes his move, and all hell breaks loose. Everyone at the store gets roped into the action—a spry young cop (Sterling Beaumon), apprehensive store owner Amir (Mousa Hussein Kraish), and pregnant couple Abraham (Elliot Knight) and Ana (Jessica Garza).
$156 million is no joke, particularly when it is an amount that will set up the whole roster of characters for life even if they split it all evenly. Contending with multiple dead bodies will involve plotting something together if there is any hope of cashing in on the big ticket prize. Even Amir is in for a solid 5% chunk simply by way of being the store’s owner where they will cash in. Tensions bubble to the surface, as each character weighs whether going along with a crazy plot will be worth the big bucks. For Abraham and Ana, this money could give their future child a real nest egg.
Directed by Dan Brown, Your Lucky Day uses dynamic surveillance-camera point of view footage to create a cold distance between voyeuristic spectator and unwilling participant. As the scenario spirals wildly out of control, Brown practices restraint in setting the picture almost entirely at the Sip ’N Go. Cloud’s performance is an M.V.P. stand-out, with a close second going to Garza’s Ana. Your Lucky Day’s bleak outlook leaves a searing impression on the viewer that will be difficult to shake.
Your Lucky Day screened at 2023’s Fantastic Fest.
