Luz

Even as Lau's intentions are to nudge us back into real life, the images flickering on screen continue to hold us rapt.

It’s in the VR world that the film best conveys its themes of modern intimacy and alienation.

Lau’s ambition to strive toward similar aims is worthy of commendation, creating a tapestry of moods of detachment alongside a city symphony of isolation, yet it’s hard to shake the sense that not much new or complex about our modern way of life is conveyed.

Luz is an ambitious film but one that overreaches a little and becomes jumbled as a result, but it shows promise for filmmaker Flora Lau.

A sporadically interesting though ultimately superficial exploration of online connection, video games, and modern alienation, writer-director Flora Lau’s Luz is a film in search of something greater than it is never quite able to grab hold of.