Unfiltered Aesthetic Sparks Authentic Expression

Read Time:5 Minute, 16 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Lucid
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Genre: Horror, Dark Comedy
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 49m
Director(s): Deanna Milligan, Ramsey Fendall
Writer(s): Deanna Milligan, Ramsey Fendall
Cast: Caitlin Acken Taylor, Georgia Acken, Elaine Thrash Oliveira, Jamie Wollam, Violet Gaffney, Ayla Tesler-Mabe, Metta Rose, Vivian Vanderpuss, Alex Love Kink, Rianne Delahunt, Jordan Gibb
Where to Watch: shown at the 2025 Fantasia Film Festival

RAVING REVIEW: This film offers up a fully loaded gut punch to conventional storytelling. Set in the mid-'90s and soaked in grunge-era angst, it blends creative burnout, dream logic, and experimental visuals into one heady mix. It’s loud, it’s unfiltered, and whether or not you’re on board, it never stops trying to shake something loose.

The film centers on Mia, an art student scrambling to meet a critical deadline while trying to figure out who she even is. Her professor insists on seeing “something with heart,” but inspiration is nowhere to be found. As she battles with self-doubt, lashes out at everyone around her, and clocks in at a dead-end fast food job, she stumbles upon a mysterious elixir. One reckless dose later, things take a wild turn. What unfolds is a descent into her subconscious, where memory, fear, and artistic expression bleed together until it’s hard to tell what’s real anymore.

What starts as a story about artistic struggle quickly morphs into a warped odyssey of internal chaos. There’s something fascinating about how the film treats creativity; it’s not viewed as a gift, but rather as a force—something that can liberate or completely dismantle someone, depending on how it’s harnessed. Mia isn’t just blocked; she’s cracking under pressure. The film captures that tension by stripping away any safety net and throwing her into a psychological spiral that becomes more fragmented the deeper she falls.

Visually, the grain, imperfections, and flickering light seem like an integral part of Mia’s mental state. This isn’t the polished world of pristine digital cinema; it’s dirty, unpredictable, and buzzing with energy. The film leans into that with fast edits and distorted imagery that mimics the fractured way she experiences her world. Sometimes it’s mesmerizing. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. That sensory overload is a double-edged sword. It sells the emotional chaos, but it also makes it hard to stay anchored in the story. When every scene is turned up to eleven, the quieter moments—those reflective pauses that give you a second to process—get lost.

Performance-wise, Caitlin Acken Taylor gives Mia a rawness that’s hard to shake. She isn’t always likable, but that doesn’t matter. Her performance inhabits the gray space between confidence and collapse, and the film’s best moments occur when it allows her to sit with that. Georgia Acken brings a grounded intensity to the younger version of Mia, and the chemistry between them—despite never sharing scenes—feels eerily aligned.

A lot is going on thematically. The film is interested in how trauma shapes creativity, how the pressure to produce “authentic” work can sometimes crush the spirit, and how institutional expectations can warp someone’s relationship with their voice. We get hints—scenes that suggest deeper meanings—but the film doesn’t always dig deep enough. What the film does instead is continue to push into abstraction. At its best, that works—it captures the terrifying disorientation of not knowing what part of yourself is real. But it comes at the cost of clarity. By the final act, the narrative almost becomes secondary to mood, which may leave some viewers unfulfilled.

For its rough edges, the film deserves credit for taking a big swing. It’s rare to see a first-time feature that’s this bold, emotionally vulnerable, and ambitious. The imperfections are noticeable, but they don’t erase the moments that hit. And there are plenty that do—scenes that are raw, inventive, and strangely beautiful in their brokenness. This is the project that needs to be made. Not for awards or accolades, but because the people behind it had something to say and wanted to say it their way. That energy bleeds through every frame. It’s not tidy. It’s not clean. But it’s alive.

Viewers who have ever faced a creative crisis, battled inner demons, or felt crushed under someone else’s expectations may find a lot to connect with here. Others, especially those seeking a clear structure or traditional resolution, may struggle with the unfiltered nature of the storytelling. The film doesn’t cater. It confronts. And for that alone, it sticks.

This is a film made for the brave—the ones who don’t mind messiness if it means getting closer to something unique. It’s an imperfect but deeply personal work that reminds us that sometimes breaking down is the only way to break through.

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[photo courtesy of SUBLUNAR FILMS]

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