Lucy (2014 film)
Lucy is a 2014 French English-language science fiction action film written and directed by Luc Besson for his company EuropaCorp, and produced by his wife, Virginie Besson-Silla. It is an English-language film shot in Taipei, Paris, and New York City. It stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, and Amr Waked. Johansson portrays the titular character, a woman who gains psychokinetic abilities when a nootropic, psychedelic drug is absorbed into her bloodstream. The film was released on 25 July 2014 and became a massive box office success, grossing over 40 million. It received generally positive, but also polarized, critical reviews. Although praise was given for its themes, visuals, and Johansson's performance, many critics found the plot nonsensical, especially its focus on the ten percent of the brain myth and resulting abilities. Lucy is an American studying in Taipei, Taiwan. Her new boyfriend Richard tricks her into working as a drug mule for a South Korean kkangpae and drug lord, and she delivers a briefcase containing four packets of the highly valuable synthetic drug CPH4 to Mr. Jang. After witnessing Richard being shot and killed, she is captured and a bag of the drug is forcibly sewn into her abdomen in order to transport the drug to Europe. While in captivity, she is kicked in the stomach, breaking the bag and releasing a large quantity of the drug into her system. She acquires increasingly enhanced physical and mental capabilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, mental time travel, and the ability to feel no pain. She also becomes both ruthless and emotionless. Using her new abilities, she kills her captors and escapes. Lucy travels to the nearby Tri-Service General Hospital to get the bag of drugs removed from her abdomen. She is told by the operating doctor that natural CPH4 is produced in tiny quantities by pregnant women during their sixth week of pregnancy to provide fetuses with the energy to develop.
