‘Luz’ Review: Isabelle Huppert Leads Alluring, if Cold Chinese Diptych About Virtual Reality and Real-Life Woes

variety.com:

Carlos Aguilar Unbothered, Isabelle Huppert vapes while wearing a chic dress after a night out in Paris. The actress’ requisite ferocious grace this time is lent to Sabine, an ailing French artist who refuses to waste her final days bedridden.

But she is only one of the four pieces that conform “Luz,” Flora Lau’s alluring narrative diptych on familial disconnection that moves between the French capital, the Chinese city of Chongqing and an interstitial realm of virtual reality, where her characters are meant to find common ground.

The geographical divide between the two distinct storylines is bridged via the implementation of this space. From the opening credits (the names of those involved appear as spinning neon signs floating) propelled by Mimi Xu’s propulsive score, Lau announces the visual originality she’s after, mining Chongqing’s fluorescent architecture to create dazzling, otherworldly frames.

And there’s mesmerizing imagery galore in “Luz” (the title means light). A translucid deer roams “virtual streets,” which are presented as footage of the actual places.