Lou (2022)

September 26, 2022 7:54 AM

Thinking she'd put her dangerous past behind her, Lou (Allison Janney) finds her quiet life interrupted when a desperate mother (Jurnee Smollett) begs her to save her kidnapped daughter. As a massive storm rages, the two women risk their lives on a rescue mission that will test their limits and expose dark and shocking secrets from their pasts.

Directed by Anna Foerster. Written by Maggie Cohn. Produced by J.J. Abrams, Jon Cohen, and Hannah Minghella.

63% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

A Netflix original. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (6 comments total)

Hollywood will not rest until all of our most beloved late middle-aged actors have gotten their own Taken.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:54 AM on September 26, 2022 [8 favorites]

I'll allow it, at least for groups of actors (i.e. women) who traditionally haven't gotten that sort of movie.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:03 AM on September 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

The backstory was complicated, but that final hug on the beach wouldn't have worked without it, and that was one hell of a hug.

I did love Janney's world-weary assassin coming out of retirement for one last job - an excellent trope that is far too often reserved for men, as Halloween Jack points out.

My favorite bits would have to be a) Lou fighting not just the enemy and the elements, but her own aging body (as I get older, this really resonates) and b) the way that Janney has of stopping and thinking for just a second. Doesn't say a word, but you can tell exactly what's going through her mind as she weighs her options (and one of her options is always going to be "fuck it, let's just kill them").
posted by Mogur at 12:14 PM on September 26, 2022 [2 favorites]

If this was 85 minutes long, it would have been a better time. Didn't mind it, even so, but it's pulp paced at serious drama length. They could have cut out the entire Iran/secret son plot and the movie would not have suffered for it.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:50 PM on September 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

So I have to admit I didn’t fully understand the backstory (who kidnapped the boy?). But somehow Lou was still in cahoots with the CIA at the end, right? Because she wasn’t wearing the vest until she arrived at the lighthouse, plus that’s supposed to be her in the very last scene, looking at the mother on the ferry? Setting us up for a sequel?

I picked this because I’ll watch Allison Janney in anything. Brava to her and the rest of the cast for what must have been grueling work in all that rain.
posted by Sukey Says at 3:29 AM on November 12, 2022

I was meh on the movie itself, but Allison Janney was great! I'm glad women are able to get these kinds of roles nowadays.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 8:09 PM on December 14, 2022 [1 favorite]