| Director | Julius Onah |
|---|---|
| Genre | drama film |
| Runtime | 109 min |
| Country | United States |
| Box office | $2.3 million |
Born in war-torn Eritrea and adopted in the United States by a progressive White family, Luce Edgar is an all-star high school athlete and accomplished public speaker who is adored by other students and his adoptive parents, Peter and Amy. However, he has animosity towards his history teacher, Harriet Wilson, who got his friend DeShaun kicked off the running team after finding marijuana in his locker.
Amy meets with Harriet, who shows her Luce has written a paper about political revolutionary Frantz Fanon, arguing that colonialism can be overcome through violence. Harriet is concerned. Harriet also reveals to Amy that she found a bag of illegal fireworks in Luce's locker.
Amy and Peter decide to not say anything to Luce, hiding the paper and fireworks. When asked about his teacher, Luce accuses Harriet of harmfully singling out students, such as using Stephanie Kim, a Korean-American classmate had been sexually assaulted by Luce's friends and teammates, at the time she was also dating Luce, as an example of a victim suffering in silence. Luce is Harriet's shining example of a star Black student, but he argues that he does not want to be tokenized. Luce finds the hidden paper and fireworks.
Luce and Harriet discuss his paper to which he says he simply followed the prompt of the assignment, disavowing any true belief in violence. He makes a comment about fireworks that Harriet interprets as a threat, and she notifies Peter. He and Amy confront Luce. He explains that the track team shares lockers and the fireworks are not his. Peter thinks Luce is lying, but Amy is not sure and tries to maintain peace.
Harriet and her sister Rosemary, who suffers from an unspecified mental illness, have an encounter with Luce at a supermarket that unsettles Harriet.
Luce and Deshaun engage in an argument regarding Deshaun's removal from the running team, resulting in a loss of potential scholarships. Deshaun criticizes Luce for the privileges he receives as being exalted as a star student, which Luce argues he does not want nor asked for. He promises DeShaun that he will make things right. Meanwhile, Amy and Stephanie meet at a coffee shop. Stephanie says that she used to date Luce, which Amy never knew, but they broke up. Stephanie describes being sexually assaulted at a party by several boys while under the influence of alcohol. Luce stopped them and comforted her after she awoke. Luce later learns from Stephanie about the visit.
Rosemary arrives at the school looking for Harriet and has a breakdown, stripping naked in front of a crowd of students before she is tasered and apprehended by police. The incident is recorded and posted on social media. Harriet's home is vandalized with racial slurs later that night, and Stephanie arrives shortly after to tell Harriet that Luce sexually assaulted her. Harriet informs Principal Towson, and a meeting is organized with Luce and his parents. Luce disproves Harriet's accusations with video evidence of his whereabouts, and Harriet's harsh questions quickly make Amy and Peter come to his defense. Harriet discovers that Stephanie has left before she could repeat her accusation to Towson. Towson lets Luce go, despite Harriet still arguing her side.
At night, exploding fireworks inside Harriet's desk cause a fire. Towson puts Harriet on a leave of absence pending investigation. Learning of the incident, Amy discovers that the fireworks in their home are gone. Peter believes Luce was involved, but Amy insists that they have to protect their son.
Luce turns up at Harriet's home with flowers, saying he feels uncomfortable about her losing her job. However, he contradicts this by confronting her about ruining DeShaun's athletic career and putting Luce on a pedestal. She accuses Luce of being hypocritical, protecting himself by using other minority students, including Stephanie, to "run his errands" of subterfuge against her. Luce argues "that is not the same thing".
Amy follows Luce to a hideout where he has sex with Stephanie. When Amy returns home, Luce arrives and reconciles with her. Later, Luce gives a speech at school, thanking Amy and Peter for raising him and saying how lucky he feels to be an American, with the chance to start over and tell his own story. Afterwards, Luce goes on a jog, visibly upset.