Nothing much really happens with Lucy Shulman. Her life is unremarkable, and one could even argue that it wasn't worth making a film about. But this realization takes much longer than it should, because "Lucy Shulman" is a joy to watch.
Comedian Ellie Sax wrote and directed this film, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It's deeply rooted in the stereotypical tropes of independent cinema about creative people struggling to get their lives on track. There's nothing catastrophically wrong with the main character: Lucy seems sweet enough, has a distinctive sense of style, and is witty enough to keep up with her typical New York group of friends, a perfect mix of genuine achievers and over-the-top posers.
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She doesn't have many outwardly toxic traits, such as delusions of grandeur, but her world is rather narrow. She knows she loves literature, but spends far more time dating writers than writing. She works at an independent bookstore, but is hardly a model employee. Her friends constantly invite her out, but she usually declines in favor of whoever she's dating at the time.
Thanks to her keyboard habit, it's tempting to write early in the film that her life "falls apart" after a painful breakup with an unfaithful writer (Hasan Minaj). But given how little she had and how much support she had from below, her fall was less a catastrophe than a stumble on two or three steps.
At the core of this support system is her father, Peter (David Cross), who raised Lucy alone and now shares the same loving (albeit codependent) relationship with her that most parents dream of. Every time Lucy experiences a breakup, she returns to her childhood bedroom, and Peter is always there to support her. Cross plays Peter as a man without a single glaring flaw; he's endlessly loving, understanding of Lucy's every mistake and outburst. No matter what happens during the day, he's so happy to spend time with his daughter that his good mood is unshakable.
The plot of "Lucy Shulman" is incredibly simple. Lucy falls in love with a new guy, temporarily distances herself from her friends and father, and realizes she can't begin to figure out her life until she learns that being alone is okay. The film is remarkable, above all, for its tone, which treats these seemingly solvable problems of developed countries with the seriousness they deserve—which is to say, almost without seriousness.
Anyone whose media diet leads them to a film like "Lucy Shulman" has already seen these plot twists dozens, if not hundreds, of times. Sachs, fortunately, understands this, and while the film is too sincere to ever be considered a subversion of these cliches about growing up as an artist in New York, it has the decency to not deceive us about their seriousness. "Lucy Shulman" unfolds in a world where misunderstandings are easily resolved, stomach aches are treated as real problems, everyone understands when to cancel plans, and fathers love their daughters unconditionally, who love them back. What the film lacks in ambition, it makes up for in pleasant atmosphere and wholesome entertainment.
Films like these serve primarily as showcases for their leads, and Sachs displays considerable comedic charm that makes it easy to imagine a future filled with roles on premium cable sitcoms and guest essays in The New Yorker. And her admirable restraint as a director suggests she understands the irony of the situation as well as the rest of us: no one was needed Another movie like Lucy Shulman, and even the characters find it increasingly difficult to convince themselves of the uniqueness of their situations, but some of us still enjoy watching movies like this.
This cheerful self-irony ensures that filmgoers who grew up with "Frances Ha" will be as excited about "Lucy Schulman" as romantic comedy fans are about Hallmark Christmas movies. The tension in each scene is so low-key that you could easily leave the room for half an hour without missing anything, but you'll undoubtedly enjoy any scene you return to.
Rating: B-
Lucy Shulman premiered at the 2026 Tribeca Film Festival and is currently seeking a U.S. distributor.
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