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Lumina is a modern fairy-tale about a girl who begins seeing the Perfect Guy in all of her reflections. At first she is just enthralled and questions nothing about this strange occurrence, but as time goes by she suspects more sinister reasons.
The 9-part show has much going for it, but it also has its downsides and lets start with those to get them over with.
The show’s weakpoint (as much as it pains me to say) is the somewhat lackluster performances. Juju Chan, who plays the Lumina character, is lovely to look at and at first may seem like the perfect choice to play the lead, but she also looks positively lost in front of the camera, delivering the somewhat predictable and simple lines… well… predictably and simple. The back-and-forth between the characters feels way too scripted and unnatural (with a few exceptions) and distracts from the complex fantasy story.
Still, the show has a lot of good sides. For one, it is one of the first web shows shot entirely on the new RED camera, and this makes a huge positive impact. The colors are vivid and cinematic, the depth of the focus incredible. From a cinematography stand-point Lumina is very well shot, and throughout the show the motif of mirrors is continually repeated and it suddenly makes sense to believe that beyond reflections lies a whole different realm of royalties, thieves and mirrorspies. Director Jennifer Thym and directors of photography Xiaosu Han and Andreas Thalhammer took full advantage of the RED’s capabilities, and web series creators who wish to use the RED (and can actually afford it) will look to Lumina for inspiration.
An old axiom says “location, location, location” and Lumina takes good advantage of its Hong Kong setting. The sets are great and the whole feel of tight, claustrophobic ambiance comes across nicely. Sometimes there are sound errors that could have profited from some ADR, but on the whole the show is very well done and deserves a place in the web series pantheon (if ever there is one).
You might even get used to the underacting and enjoy the complex story for what it is.
PS: I’ll be honest. After watching it all the way through in one sitting (with a few minor interruptions) I can honestly say I have not an inkling of what exactly was going on. But it was all still captivating enough to continue to the end… and hope the sequel arrives soon.
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