Lou Review: Allison Janney shocks as targeted ex-CIA agent

September 25, 2022

Lou follows Hannah’s daring pursuit of her daughter Vee when her unstable presumed-dead father kidnaps her amid a raging storm.

Starring Academy Award-winner Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, and Logan Marshall-Green in leading roles, Lou constitutes a capable addition to cult abduction movies like Taken and Along Came a Spider. The action thriller weaves a compelling tale about survival, family, and secret military missions as Vee’s abduction puts old relationships and strained bonds to the test.

Anna Foerster of the Underworld: Blood Wars fame directs the suspense thriller, casting Allison Janney in the mold of a hardened individualistic action hero with dark secrets.

The Story

Lou Adell (Allison Janney) leads a life clouded in mystery on Orcas Island, living in a cabin with only her dog Jax for company. Old secrets and decisions threaten to destabilize her life, and Lou begins preparations for her taking her life.

Hannah Dawson (Jurnee Smollett) is a single mother living on the island with her daughter Vee (Ridley Asha Bateman). Hannah lost her military husband Philip (Logan Marshall-Green) some years ago after his apartment blew up, but she cannot muster the courage to tell Vee the truth about her father.

When Philip makes a surprise comeback and kidnaps Vee amid a raging storm, Lou and Hannah must follow his tracks to get to Vee in time. Baited by a series of psychopathic postcards and notes, Lou and Hannah must follow Philip’s trail as they battle the weather, Philip’s convoluted game, soured relationships, and revived secrets.

Allison Janney in Lou on Netflix — Image Credit: Netflix

Reasons To Stream

Lou epitomizes unfinished businesses as Lou and Hannah’s pasts intersect in bizarre ways when they team up after Vee’s shocking abduction.

Oscar winner Allison Janney delivers yet another stellar performance as a cynical former CIA agent with a series of shocking secrets. Jurnee Smollett performs the role of the frantic and concerned mother with remarkable proficiency, propelled by a mother’s survival instinct as she braves all odds to recover her daughter. Logan Marshall-Green essays a complex character and manages to evoke primal fear, disgust, and pity in his portrayal of the murderous and vindictive US military convict Philip.

Lou maintains a dark and foreboding theme throughout the runtime and is propelled by a startling twist linking all the characters in unfathomable ways. Lou’s hardened cynicism contrasts with Hannah’s relentless hope and grit as the two women constitute a formidable force against her abusive ex-husband.

Lou personifies female power through its two determined female protagonists, epitomizing the lengths a mother will go to protect her child. Hannah and Lou represent contrasting images of motherhood as decisions made years ago pave the path to the present crisis. Emotional vendettas clash against political secrets as Lou’s murky past crashes destructively into her present.

Reasons To Skip

Despite repeated allusions to Lou’s involvement in the 1953 Iran coup as an undercover CIA agent, her active role as a rogue ex-agent is barely delved into as the film settles with veiled references to her leveraging of incriminating documents.

The film is not for the squeamish as the survival thriller does not shy away from gory and bloody scenes and cold-hearted violent attacks.

The action thriller tries very hard at emotional impetuses and attempts to get into the psychology of a rogue convicted ex-Marshal. Lou instead conjures a rather unidimensional portrait of Philip as his justifications and motivations only paint him as a grimmer villain, offering no redeeming qualities or justifiable actions in the end.

The film’s attempt to delve into Lou’s emotional journey also falls flat as her actions brand her as a ruthless woman prioritizing survival and anonymity above all, including her blood relations. The only convincing emotional connection stands between Hannah and her abducted daughter Vee, as Lou and Philip’s convoluted emotional progression fades to the background amid the bloody murk and gore.

The Verdict

Lou makes a promising start as it builds a grim world endangered by child abduction and concealed US military secrets. The film portrays its action in painstakingly realistic details; however, the survival thriller features a strange aberration from fast-paced action and survival to overinflated emotional melodrama, which remains undeveloped in the 107-minute running time of the film.

Nevertheless, Anna Foerster is commendable in executing the world-building in Lou and its grim and suspenseful mood with remarkable proficiency. Although the film fails to generate sentimental intensity from the emotional and shocking revelations, Lou is propelled by Janney’s spectacular portrayal of the secretive eponymous ex-CIA agent and Smollett’s steely determination driving her to rescue her daughter from the clutches of a maniacal ex.