Plot: Centers on a young woman who left behind the life of crime she was raised in years ago, but must now embrace her darker, criminal side one final time in a desperate attempt to escape her past.
Review: Based on Marissa Stapley’s best-selling novel, Lucky is not the adaptation you may think it is. Fans of the book will be expecting a particular story from the source material, which was the selection for Reese Witherspoon’s book club back in 2021. Produced by the Legally Blonde star and created by Your Friends & Neighbors showrunner Jonathan Tropper, Lucky is an example of how you can take an intriguing concept and use it as a jumping-off point rather than a true source material. A reinvention of the novel that follows its own path, Lucky is a fast-paced limited-series thriller that boasts another fantastic turn from Anya Taylor-Joy, alongside a great cast that includes Annette Bening and Timothy Olyphant. I was not sure what to expect from the series, but looking at the novel’s plot and twists, this series is almost a wholly different tale that keeps the names and general plot intact while altering almost everything else.
Lucky hits the ground running, with Lucky Armstrong (Anya Taylor-Joy) living it up in Las Vegas with her boyfriend Cary Matheson (Drew Starkey) after getting their hands on a lot of cash stolen by Lucky’s incarcerated father, John (Timothy Olyphant). After a celebratory night, Lucky awakens to find Cary has left her and stolen the cash while FBI agent Billie Rand (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) and her task force close in on the young woman. After living up to her name, Lucky barely gets away before running into Priscilla (Annette Bening), a mobster, and her enforcer, Dutch (Clifton Collins Jr). As she tries to find Cary and the money while staying one step ahead of Priscilla, Lucky has to find her way out of her troubled life and away from danger. Interspersed with flashbacks to her tumultuous childhood, Lucky draws on all sorts of crime-genre elements, along with a solid showcase for Anya Taylor-Joy’s range, alongside a great supporting cast.
Having already proved herself capable of leading a limited series based on a novel with The Queen’s Gambit, Taylor-Joy plays against type a bit here. Lucky carries a lot of baggage from her childhood, helping her dad scam people, which keeps her wary of trusting anyone. Anya Taylor-Joy plays Lucky as a scrappy survivor who is also incredibly adaptable and quick on her feet. The early episodes of the series show how the character lives up to her name through intricate, perfectly timed sequences that allow Lucky to analyze her environment and use it to her advantage. This is used sparingly through the series and could have been expanded, but Lucky instead spends more time with the various players vying for the cash that Lucky is trying to get back. This includes facing off with Priscilla as well as Whittaker (William Fichtner), the head of the crime syndicate from which the money was stolen. At this point, if you have read the novel, you may wonder about the lottery ticket central to the story, which has been completely changed in this screen adaptation.
In addition to Anya Taylor-Joy anchoring Lucky’s journey through this seven-episode series, we get some phenomenal performances from the entire cast. Timothy Olyphant never disappoints, and he plays against his beloved Deadwood and Justified heroic roles with this duplicitous character. Equally impressive is Annette Bening, who I feared would be repeating her role from the Yellowstone spin-off, Dutton Ranch. Bening missed a calling in her acting career by adding another imposing villain role with Priscilla. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is great as the determined FBI agent trying to find Lucky, while Clifton Collins Jr. and William Fichtner are reliably solid in smaller but vital roles. The weakest member of the cast is Drew Starkey, who does not match Anya Taylor-Joy’s energy, making the dynamic between the couple less impactful on the plot than it could have been. I found that the seven-episode series kept me engaged and waiting for the next twist, even though I could tell where it was headed from the outset.
A quick online search for the novel that inspired Lucky will show that, while it was a popular pick thanks to Reese Witherspoon’s book club, many criticized its formulaic plot and writing. For this adaptation, Jonathan Tropper (Star Wars: Starfighter, The Adam Project) and co-showrunner Cassie Pappas (The L Word, Silo) have kept the relationship between Lucky and her father, the relationship with Cary, and the large sum of money at the center, but everything else has been changed. I will let those who have read the book and anyone intrigued by the series trailers experience the series for themselves, but even calling this an adaptation feels like a misnomer. As an adaptation, fans of the book are going to be very confused, while those coming in fresh will find a desert-set thriller series that uses the heat of Las Vegas and the surrounding area as a character unto itself, while Tropper and Pappas deliver a noir-esque series directed by Jonathan Van Tulleken, Greg Yaitanes, and Jet Wilkinson.
Lucky is a good story with great characters that plays in the sandbox of the crime genre. Knowing the book’s plot structure, I think the series makes for a better story with a more interesting path for Anya Taylor-Joy’s Lucky. With Timothy Olyphant and Annette Bening, you are guaranteed some great acting, and they go toe-to-toe with each other and Anya Taylor-Joy to deliver a balanced tale of family, crime, and coping. Lucky blurs the line between being action and drama, but does so with enough energy and momentum to keep you engaged. The final episode of the series, as we have gotten used to in recent years, could be the end, leaving Lucky as a limited series, or leave the door open for this story to continue, should audiences respond to Anya Taylor-Joy’s character.
Lucky premieres with two episodes on July 15th on AppleTV.