Directed and written by Jennifer Thym
Featuring Juju Chan, Michael Chan, Jacob Ziacan, Shell Z. Zhu, Vince Matthew Chung
www.luminaseries.com
Review by Jessica Baxter
Written, directed and produced by Jennifer Thym, Lumina is a nine-part web series set in a complex universe of rival realms that are secretly politicizing unbeknownst to the people of modern day Hong Kong. Lumina is a beautiful young girl who is inadvertently drawn into a world she doesn’t understand. Recently broken-hearted, she has immersed herself in work and become the star employee at some sort of think tank. It’s not until she meets the man in the mirror that she realized just how lonely she’s been...
The man in the mirror is Ryder, who can see her in all reflective surfaces via a special mirror he has acquired in his world, the Dark Realm. Lumina knows very little about his world, and he isn’t eager to spill the goods. But she does know that he’s cute and seems to like her. This may sound like a terrible basis for a relationship but face it ladies, we’ve all done dumb things on the rebound. At least you can’t get a disease when there’s a pane of glass between you and your boyfriend.
It’s not until a mysterious man named Eben warns her of the people of the Dark Realm that Lumina begins to wonder if she is in over her head.
The universe that Jennifer Thym has created is rich and complex, unfolding slowly within the narrative. She’s laid out the backstory of every character on the website and outlined the conflict between the characters and the realms. But there aren’t a lot of answers yet. And besides, it’s almost more fun to see things as Lumina does. Wide-eyed and naïve, she has no idea who to believe and is beginning to suspect that she is in over her head. But she is also tremendously lonely and broken. So much so that a relationship with a borderline stalker she can’t even touch seems more appealing than remaining on her own.
The viewers are given more omniscience than Lumina as we also follow Eben, a sort of low-rent tabloid reporter whose job is to find juicy gossip about the Dark Realm and sell it to an organization called the Mirrorati. His current lead involves the Dark Mirror, the device that Ryder stole from Prince Bas and has been using to communicate with Lumina. Long believed to be lost, the mirror has great significance to its original owners, the people of Corwaithe. Ryder is clearly about to pay consequences for his whimsical thievery.
Lumina dwells on her impossible romance with Ryder, leaving her oblivious to the messy drama unfolding at work. The Mirrorati is very a powerful group that also has its hands up the skirt of Lumina’s boss. Meanwhile, Lumina’s coworkers are jealous of the constant praise she receives from her boss and several conspire to take her down a peg. To further complicate things, Lumina’s only work friend, Teddy, harbors an unrequited crush on her.
As you can see, there’s an awful lot going on in the world that Thym has created. It’s hard to believe how much has unfolded in just the first six episodes. It’s even more difficult to comprehend how it will all be resolved in only 3 more. As of episode 6, there are many characters whose motives remain unclear. Even after reading the cliff’s notes that Thym has provided, the Dark Realm remains a mysterious place.
Also impressive is the production value. Shot in HD, Lumina has a lush, cinematic quality. It’s astounding how much magic and wonder Thym can imply using limited special effects. Though some of the acting is a little stilted, the scenery and story make up for it. We may never see exactly what is on the other side of those mirrors but I, for one, have to see how this thing turns out.
