Lucky Star

Official Selection, 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival

Dad is a reformed gambler, but the relapse is coming. He has secret cash stacks around the house, and he’s borrowing money from his college-aged daughter. A speeding ticket accelerates his cravings. A breaking point is coming. And his name is Lucky, which might be the greatest curse of all.

He’s played by an excellent Terry Chen, who rocks tattoos of old glory days and drives a sports car bought in better times. Gillian McKercher’s tense drama captures the gambler’s daze, but more impressively, the fate of a man who doesn’t know how to accept help, be that financial or emotional, from the people who are the real fortune in his life.