So many movies take a simple premise and push it as far as it can possibly go. In The Hangover, a bachelor party spirals into comedic madness and two unnecessary sequels. Most psychological thrillers start with a misunderstanding and end in multiple murders. And look what happens when someone lets Francesca Hayward out of the bag in Cats.
All of which makes Luba an enjoyably realistic, decidedly low-key Toronto-set drama. Nicole Maroon stars in the title role as a single mother with a rambunctious eight-year-old son named Matty. Vladimir Jon Cubrt, who also wrote the screenplay, is Donnie, the boy’s father, a drug addict trying to turn his life around.
In the early going we see Luba trying to hold things together, which isn’t easy. She’s perennially short of cash, in trouble with her son’s school for repeatedly arriving late to pick him up, and her boss at the bar where she waitresses isn’t happy to have the kid always accompanying her to work. Matty also has a habit of interrupting her at-home date nights.
But things really start coming undone when Donnie takes Matty to the cinema and leaves him there while he goes off to score some drugs. Luba and Donnie have an agreement rather than court-mandated visitation rights, but the frazzled mom suggests that maybe Donnie shouldn’t see him anymore. This doesn’t sit well with the boy, who doesn’t understand that his dad is a bad influence, and possibly even dangerous.
Luba is a remarkably assured production from first-time feature director Caley Wilson, making the most of the city’s streetscapes and urban backdrops for its low-budget drama. It’s that rare Toronto-shot film that not only chooses not to hide its location, but openly embraces it.
And while the emotional stakes may remain small for most of the film’s 86 minutes, that doesn’t lessen their impact. Not every story is larger than life; sometimes life-sized is all the scope and scale you need.
3.5 stars
Luba opens Jan. 10 in Toronto and Calgary.
Copyright Postmedia Network Inc., 2020
