“There are bad movies, there are really bad movies, and then there’s Lumina,” writes film critic Brian Tallerico for RogerEbert.com in his 0-star review, just one of many critiques of what may be the worst film of 2024 (though it has stiff competition with Armor, the first movie to get a 0% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes since 2020). The sci-fi movie Lumina ostensibly follows Alex and his friends after flashes of bright lights lead to the disappearance of Alex’s girlfriend. The group journeys through the desert and an underground military base, realizing that they’re getting closer to a big alien conspiracy. Of course, it’s difficult to parse this out from the incoherent filmmaking.
Tallerico continued in his review of Lumina, saying, “[It’s] a film so breathtaking in its overall incompetence that one starts to wonder if it’s not intentionally so in the hope of being the next The Room or Birdemic. How else to explain some of the laughable shot choices, inconsistent characters, nonsensical plotting, and dialogue that sounds like it was either produced by A.I. or Google Translate of a script written in another language?”
Lumina was marketed as starring Eric Roberts, a good actor who ends up saying “yes” to everything and starring in hundreds of horrible movies as a result. In fact, Roberts is in the film for less than 10 minutes. The main cast includes Rupert Lazarus, Emily Hall, Eleanor Williams, Andrea Tivadar, Sidney Nicole Rogers, and Ken Lawson. Gino J.H. McKoy wrote, directed, and co-produced the film, which apparently is more memorable for its legal problems and being a dangerous production (more on that later). Metacritic ranked Lumina at the top of their list for the worst movies of 2024, writing:
“This year’s only film with a single-digit Metascore, Lumina may be more notable for a lawsuit relating to its allegedly botched theatrical rollout than its on-screen content. Then again, it’s hard to see a movie this bad grossing much more than $23,000 in its opening week even under the best of circumstances.”
“Starless save for a brief appearance by Eric Roberts (A Talking Cat!?!), the largely incompetent sci-fi-action-horror-thriller-comedy(?) from writer-director Gino McKoy follows a group of friends who uncover some sort of alien/government/military conspiracy while searching for their abducted friend. You may laugh at parts of Lumina—critics definitely did, while noting that the humor was not intended—but the nearly two-hour film is probably far too long to justify watching it ironically.”
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The ‘Lumina’ Lawsuit & COVID Violations
COVID-19 and the Hollywood strikes of 2023 caused a lot of problems with the production and post-production of Lumina, and the handling of the film’s distribution caused even more. In December 2024, “Goldove Entertainment sued distribution partner Wild About Movies, which allegedly lied about the number of theaters that would show the movie, for fraud and breach of contract,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, which continues to write:
“Wild About Movies chief executive Timothy Nasson denied the accusations and said he plans to countersue for fraud, harassment and libel. He added, ‘The movie made $23,000 on 200 screens in the first seven days. They’re taking the fact that it bombed, and they’re trying to blame someone.'”
On top of that mess, the production apparently refused to comply with COVID-19 protocol (in 2020), leading to SAG-AFTRA releasing a rare ‘Do Not Work’ order to warn the industry that the production “failed to demonstrate its compliance with SAG-AFTRA’s required Covid-19 safety standards and protocols for a safe set.” As a result, working on the film itself could be a breach of the union’s laws. SAG-AFTRA added at the time:
Accepting employment or rendering services on Lumina may be considered a violation of Global Rule One. Violating this order may result in disciplinary action in accordance with the SAG-AFTRA Constitution.
So it seems like Lumina was just as awful on-screen as it was behind the camera.
You can view the original article HERE.
