‘Lou’ Review – Allison Janney’s Pitch For A Survival Drama

The first few seconds of ‘Lou’ were a little disorienting, the scenes looked straight out of ‘The Walking Dead’ universe, and Allison Janney who plays the titular protagonist seemed eerily like Melissa McBride’s popular character Carol. And while the characters come from starkly different worlds, they are both badass women who know how to work a gun and survive on their own under brutal circumstances.

Directed by Anna Foerster, with screenplay by Maggie Cohn and Jack Stanley, the 2022 Netflix thriller is well-shot, well-acted, but poorly scripted, so as long as the viewer doesn’t apply too much logic, it makes for an entertaining enough watch. Allison Janney’s Lou is a mysterious loner woman, who helps neighbor/tenant Hannah (Jurnee Smollett) whose daughter’s kidnapped by her ex-husband Philip (Logan Marshall-Green). With a terrifying storm raging, the two women navigate a treacherous terrain to save little Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman), but they aren’t prepared to face some of the dark secrets their mission will unravel.

Since the plot unfolds on a remote island, the makers are able to sneak in some stunning shots of the landscape. Nima Fakhrara has done a fantastic job with the movie’s sound-score, there’s an intense stylish thrumming through the runtime which keeps thing seem pacier and scarier than they are. Allison Janney leads the film with much gusto and gets some gripping action scenes to boot. Jurnee Smollett’s role is a lot briefer, but she does the best out of the little her character gets. Logan Marshall-Green comes off every bit as psychotic as his antagonist Philip is supposed to be.

An unexpected twist in the second-half of the film makes ‘Lou’ a lot more about family than it appears to be, however, the drama doesn’t elicit the kind of emotions the makers perhaps hoped for. The climax was a little long-drawn and could’ve been shorter. The film would serve as a pretty good pitch for Allison Janney to star in a survival drama or maybe get a cool cameo in ‘The Walking Dead’ universe.

Overall, ‘Lou’ is a pretty decent thriller. It’s a 6/10 from me.