Lucy

"The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%."

2014 1h 29m EN

😐

6.5

MID

🍅

67%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

6.4

IMDB

★6.5TMDB · 17,452🍅67%Rotten Tomatoes●62Metacritic★6.4IMDB · 569,730

ActionScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.

“The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%.”

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Cast

Scarlett Johansson
Lucy
Morgan Freeman
Professor Norman
Choi Min-sik
Mr. Jang
Amr Waked
Pierre Del Rio
Julian Rhind-Tutt
The Limey
Pilou Asbæk
Richard
Lio Tipton
Caroline
Shin Yoo-ram
Jang's Lieutenant

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Luc Besson
Writers: Luc Besson
Languages: Mandarin, English, French, Spanish, Korean
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $469M — a 11.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Mandarin, English, French, Spanish, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Luc Besson, shot by Thierry Arbogast. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Éric Serra. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Julien Rey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman and Choi Min-sik carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Luc Besson directs. Thierry Arbogast behind the camera. Éric Serra scores. Julien Rey cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France. Dialogue in Mandarin, English, French, Spanish, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Grossed $469M — a 11.7× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
3Released 12 years ago.
4Dialogue crosses 5 languages: Mandarin, English, French, Spanish, Korean.
5Directed by Luc Besson, shot by Thierry Arbogast. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Éric Serra. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Julien Rey shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman and Choi Min-sik carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The average person uses 10% of their brain capacity. Imagine what she could do with 100%.".
10IMDB entry: tt2872732 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1117,452 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
12Classified under 18 themes, including "artificial intelligence (a.i.)", "telepathy", "intelligence", "drug mule".

The technical file

Cinematography: Thierry Arbogast
Original score: Éric Serra
Editing: Julien Rey
Production design: Hugues Tissandier
Costume design: Olivier Bériot
Makeup / hair: Stéphane Robert
VFX supervisor: Kevin Berger
Sound: Aymeric Devoldère
Stunt coordinator: Laurent Demianoff
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $40,000,000
Box office: $469,058,574
Return: 1173% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Lucy (2014)
Rotten Tomatoes: 67% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 62/100
IMDB rating: 6.4/10 · 569,730 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 12 nominations total

Also by

Luc Besson

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Matthew Sanders2014-07-31
★ 0.5/10
There is no excuse for basing a screenplay on taking seriously a well known urban myth and writing it as if the audience believes the myth. Did no one up the entire production line step out and call bullshit on the discredited 'we only use 10% of our brain,' idea? I am so embarrassed by seeing actors I admire, Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, deliver solid performances on the basis of an idea at which most people laugh.
Andres Gomez2014-09-17
★ 3/10
I've also struggled to appreciate several o Luc Besson's movies but this is is by far the worst one. A lot of jibber-jabber bullshit with sexy Scarlett Johansson, lots of FX, predictable ending in Paris and a pointless car race on its streets. Better spend your time on something else ...
John Chard2015-11-07
★ 7/10
Ignorance brings chaos, not knowledge. Lucy is one of those films that brings about furious reactions, it is after all a science fiction type action thriller. They always divide film fans right from the off. It's a film that to all intents and purposes needs to be viewed just as a cinematic experience, as a piece of popcorn fodder that may try to be something more cerebral, but ultimately is a daft - but hugely fun - piece of film. Luc Besson writes and directs a film that sees Scarlett Johansson duped into being a drug mule, with the transportation of drugs sewn into her abdomen. It's a new drug, boy is it a new drug, and when things go belly up and the drugs are unleashed into Scarlett's system, she's a threat - or hope - to mankind. It can be, and has been, called pretentious et al, such is the science factor, which is perfectly understandable, so any hope of tight science fiction musings will only end up in a crushing disappointment. Undeniably Besson and his backers thought they had something to say, to open up the film watchers' minds to something deep and probable, to be relevant and viable. But unlike the makers we the viewers didn't have access to donepezil, so we sadly couldn't all turn into Bradley Cooper and be limitless in our viewing capabilities. Personally, it's a rollicking fun film for two thirds, when it's about Scarlett kicking butt, a revenge driven babe, it grips and shakes all the genre compliant cinematic senses. The ending, the grand finale, infuriated me, and by the looks of Morgan Freeman (coasting for easy money), he was also a little frustrated. But I had fun, yet on the flip side if anyone fronted me up and said they hated the film with a passion? Then I would understand and take them home to play with my chemistry set. 7/10