The seven-part Apple TV+ thriller Lucky, starring Anya Taylor-Joy, premiered on Wednesday and delivers an explosive tale of cons, revenge, and ass-kicking. The series follows Luciana 'Lucky' Armstrong, a woman who wakes up to find the FBI at her door after stealing $10 million. The show falls into the 'one last heist' genre but begins the morning after the theft, with Lucky on a Las Vegas casino hotel roof, toasting to a new life. Within hours, she is betrayed by the man she loves and forced to run penniless from both authorities and murderous enforcers of a crime boss collecting a debt incurred by her career criminal father.
A Reluctant Last Stand
The show's premise is a smart choice, as crime capers motivated by personal gain can risk feeling smug and meaningless. In contrast, Lucky offers a reluctant last stand, reminiscent of Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. Lucky is forced by circumstances beyond her control to rely on the criminal skills she has renounced, providing depth and moral complexity. Her badassery serves a greater good, purchased by the guilt that plagues her.
Lucky's smooth-talking father, John Armstrong, played by Timothy Olyphant, is always in her head, offering advice on which high-value items to pinch, how to evade the feds, and how to manipulate people. His fatherly advice, such as 'Read the room. Trust no one. And no shortcuts,' sees her through life-or-death situations. However, he is also the cause of her predicament, the chain to a life she wants to leave behind. Lucky astutely notes to her mother-in-law that her situation is 'a series of bad decisions over an extended period of time.'
Anya Taylor-Joy's Performance
Taylor-Joy, known for The Queen's Gambit and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, brings intensity and charisma to the role. She seems to relish characters who resist being merely pliable or coasting by on prettiness. Lucky literally steals from children, sets people on fire, lies as easily as breathing, and plays the female victim card with bracing cynicism. Despite her moral ambiguity, she is undeniably cool, leapfrogging the roofs of lorries and slipping in and out of different personae to evade capture. The show emphasizes that just because you're not good doesn't mean you're not great.
Timothy Olyphant, as Lucky's imprisoned father, adds charisma with his silver hair and arctic fox-like appearance. The show also features a Fiona Apple theme song, a brooding, Bond-esque track where she yowls about being 'born in the horns of a bull' and becoming a toreador.
Excitement Over Plausibility
While plausibility is not the point, excitement is. Lucky delivers cat-and-mouse thrills, improvised weaponry, explosive set-pieces, and a strong lead performance. Taylor-Joy's striking face makes it difficult for Lucky to lie low, but the show embraces this with a conspicuous peroxide blond dye. The walking nature-versus-nurture experiment wants to leave her criminality in the past, but the audience is likely to want her to keep running, exacting revenge, and kicking asses like someone's keeping score.
