Hulu made me reset my password, and after doing so, it suddenly struck me that I also have a Disney Plus account because of the Disney Bundle. As I was browsing through the list of movies, I came across “Luca”, which is quite popular. I already knew the premise of the movie because of trailers and such, but this time I was going to watch it for its double meaning.
The movie starts out with Luca, a sea monster boy, who ends up on the surface and meets Alberto, another seamonster. After a lot of hesitation, Luca continues to visit the surface as a human boy while going back to the ocean as a sea monster to not worry his parents. As the movie goes on, both Luca and Alberto meet Giulia, a human girl. They soon form a bond and create a team, the underdogs, in order to win an Italian competition and get a Vespa. The boys are living double lives, as sea monsters and as humans, because the town they are in actively seeks out their kind and kills sea monsters. Giulia, unaware of their secret, helps the boys out and stands up to Ercole, who constantly bullies them.
Luca and Alberto are suppressing the sea monster side of themselves because of the society around them. They cannot reveal their secret or else they could be killed. I thought that the movie was an allegory to identity and how someone might hide a certain part of themselves because of what others might think or do. “Luca” is a direct example of doubling because of the different sides of the characters – I would even relate it to Basquiat’s painting, “Famous” due to double identity. Luca grew up in the ocean., but he wants to be a human boy and go to school. This is also an example of doubling within a character.
Towards the end of the movie, Luca’s parents come to get him from the surface and they eventually let him go to school with Gulia. It is unclear if Luca will fit in with others at school, but he did embrace his sea monster self in the little Italian town.
The ending of the movie made me cry a lot.
Thank you so much for reading this week’s blog post! I am definitely on the lookout for movies similar to this, so stay tuned!