Shows: 3/02 9:30 PM (Cal), 3/03 9:15 PM (Cam 12), 3/08 2:45 PM (Cam 12)

“Lucid” is not an easy film to describe. Part metaphysical mystery, part psychological thriller, it has a dreamlike quality that keeps the viewer from being completely sure of what is going on. The main character, Joel, is a psychologist who works for a soulless HMO. He is assigned three post-traumatic stress disorder patients to work with in a group therapy setting, but they are soon taking on each other’s delusions and they seem to be getting worse instead of better. Insisting that there is something larger than the four of them going on, they soon band
Meanwhile, his home life is deteriorating. His wife has left him, and his daughter is showing increasingly severe signs of psychological stress. Joel himself is suffering from severe insomnia, and as he tries to juggle his personal and professional problems he begins to slip into something of a delusional state himself. What exactly is going on becomes increasingly unclear as Joel’s ability to tell reality from delusion fades, and when he (and we in the audience) finally discover the truth, it is at once horrifying and reassuring. This is a headtrip of a film that fans of movies like “Donnie Darko” are likely to enjoy.