Lucky

A tough drama that offers a complex view of racism in South Africa—specifically focusing on the tensions between blacks and “browns,” i.e., subcontinent Asian peoples such as Indians—Lucky's story of an unlikely relationship between opposites has all the hallmarks of a feel-good movie. But things are not so simple in writer-director Avie Luthra's tale of the titular 10-year-old homeless orphan (Sihle Dlamini), who sees his mother buried and then steals away from his Zulu village to the big city, where he hopes to go to school and make something of his life. Unfortunately, Lucky moves in with a corrupt uncle who plans to put the boy to work instead of giving him an education. A desperate Lucky gains an unlikely ally in Padma (Jayashree Basavaraj), an elderly Indian woman who distrusts blacks and initially treats him like a stray dog, allowing him only to sleep on her patio at night. As trust and caring builds, Padma tries to help Lucky by returning him to his village. But the boy flees into what becomes a Dickensian series of misadventures that finds Lucky sleeping in a train yard, held captive by thieves, and even jailed with hardened criminals. Dlamani and Basavaraj are wonderful actors whose conflicts and bond look and feel genuine in this fine film that reminds viewers of a longstanding truth: family is wherever you find it. Recommended. (T. Keogh)