It feels fitting that Angus Cloud’s last movie starts with a drug deal gone wrong. The 25-year-old actor was best known for his role as a dealer with a heart of gold in Euphoria. Some may say to end seeing him the way he started would be poetic. However, there’s something rather tragic about his performance in his final film, Your Lucky Day.
Writer/director Dan Brown’s film rides on the same frustration many fans felt at the actors passing. Everything that could go wrong does. It’s brutal with very little breathing room. Events move quickly from the start when a lower-level dealer robs Cloud’s Sterling. After heading to a convenience store to lick his wounds, another customer, a wealthy white man wins a $156 jackpot. His arrogant attitude and loud celebration get Sterling’s attention who decides to steal the ticket. Behind the counter is store owner, Amir (Mousa Hussein Kraish) and in the back of the facility is couple Ana (Jessica Garza) and Abraham (Elliot Knight), each having their own conversations about about money and don’t fully notice Sterling’s starting to disguise himself.
He attacks the winner, taking the ticket and killing a visiting police officer in the process. With all three shaken by the violence, they start questioning Sterling’s next move. He eventually convinces them with the help of a cut of his winnings to cover up the crime. However, things are complicated when one victim isn’t actually dead.
Mind you all of this happens in the first fifteen minutes. Throughout that time, Your Lucky Day feels more like a short film because of its pacing and enclosed setting. Its pace doesn’t let up until the final scene and would work well for the stage. Brown isn’t precious with his characters which raises the stakes and builds suspense. He brings up questions of race and class and yet it doesn’t feel preachy.
Garza’s performance as the pregnant Ana feels the most compelling. The only woman onscreen, she doesn’t play into the scared female stereotype as many actresses would. You can tell her character gets off on figuring out how to cover up the crimes, like she listens to too many murder podcasts in her free time.
You won’t want to blink when Cloud is onscreen. True, he doesn’t give you a different performance than the one on Euphoria. However, his charisma oozes out of this unlikeable character. There’s a sweetness there that underrides Sterling’s presence that’s endearing. There’s a scene that happens about 65% of the way through the 90-minute runtime, that echos Cloud’s death. Like its lead, Your Lucky Day leaves you with an ache for something more. Something that only someone with tremendous potential taken too early can leave behind.
Your Lucky Day is in theaters now, VOD on November 14th.
