When Power Outgrows Humanity
With the release of Lucy in 2014, there was not only an outpouring of bullets and brainpower but an outpouring of ideas as well. Written and directed by Luc Besson, this high-octane sci-fi thriller starring Scarlett Johansson was the first modern cinematic piece to ask one of the most interesting (and arguably, one of the most controversial) questions of contemporary cinema:
What occurs when a human being operates at 100% of their brain capacity?
The answer is spectacular, but also unsettling. On the surface, the film is an action thriller, but at a deeper level, it is a philosophical inquiry into human evolution, consciousness, and existence.
A Mind Unleashed
The story begins in chaotic, neon-lit Taipei. Lucy (Scarlett Johansson) is an ordinary young woman tricked into delivering a briefcase to a Korean drug lord, Mr. Jang (Choi Min-sik). The delivery turns into a nightmare as she is forced into becoming a drug mule — a packet of a new synthetic substance, CPH4, surgically implanted in her abdomen.
When the bag leaks inside her, everything changes. The drug amplifies her brain function exponentially, unlocking superhuman abilities — telekinesis, hyper-intelligence, memory expansion, and control over matter itself.
But with great awareness comes a terrifying realization: the more she knows, the less human she becomes. As Lucy’s brain nears full capacity, her emotions fade, and she transcends the limits of biology. The film isn’t just about evolution — it’s about the spiritual cost of knowledge.
Scarlett Johansson’s Evolution — On and Off Screen
By the time Lucy was released, Scarlett Johansson had already cemented herself as one of Hollywood’s most versatile actresses — from indie dramas like Lost in Translation to blockbuster dominance as Marvel’s Black Widow. But Lucy was something else entirely: a performance that required her to shed emotion, not amplify it.
In interviews, Johansson described the challenge of playing someone who gradually loses touch with human feeling:
“The more powerful Lucy becomes, the less she reacts to the world emotionally. That’s very hard as an actor — we’re trained to connect, but she’s disconnecting.”
That emotional disconnect became the core of her performance. Johansson’s stillness — the way she speaks calmly even while chaos erupts around her — gives Lucy an eerie sense of divine detachment.
Interestingly, Johansson shot Lucy immediately after Under the Skin (2013), another film about a woman transcending humanity. Both roles forced her to explore what it means to be conscious — but in Lucy, that exploration comes wrapped in action and science rather than silence and alien detachment.
The Symbolism Behind the Science
While the idea that humans use only 10% of their brains has long been debunked, Besson used it as a metaphor rather than literal science. In Lucy, the “10% myth” becomes a storytelling device — a way to imagine evolution not as physical change, but as consciousness expanding beyond time and space.
Lucy’s transformation represents human potential unleashed — intelligence divorced from empathy, logic without emotion. The drug CPH4, described as a substance pregnant women produce to help fetuses grow, symbolizes creation — but in Lucy’s case, it’s creation without control.
Every stage of her evolution mirrors a different phase of existence:
- 20% – Awareness of the body and pain.
- 40% – Mastery over memory and communication.
- 60% – Manipulation of matter and energy.
- 100% – Transcendence into pure data, becoming omnipresent consciousness.
The final act — where Lucy becomes one with the universe — turns science fiction into spiritual allegory. It’s not about superpowers anymore; it’s about becoming one with creation itself.
Morgan Freeman’s Voice of Reason
No philosophical sci-fi is complete without a wise scholar to anchor its chaos, and Lucy finds that in Morgan Freeman as Professor Norman. His calm explanations of brain potential and evolutionary progress give the audience breathing space between the film’s bursts of surreal energy.
Freeman later admitted in a press interview that he was drawn not by the action but by the questions:
“It’s about what’s next for humanity. If we evolve past emotion and chaos — what will we become?”
His scenes act as bridges — connecting the science with the spirituality that underpins Besson’s vision.
Constructing a Universe – Behind the Ideas
Luc Besson has a reputation for putting powerful women characters onto the screen. Lucy was the final iteration of this theme. Lucy was the first female character Besson envisioned who didn’t have to fight her way through the world to achieve her goals.
Luc Besson shot the film in Paris, New York, and Taipei. Besson melded futuristic cityscapes and raw human chaos to create the juxtaposition. Johansen’s popularity posed a unique challenge for the crew shooting in Taiwan. Crowds of fans and photographers sometimes halted shooting prematurely.
Besson took advantage of the chaos to build excitement in the film. He wanted the world surrounding Lucy to be chaotic, alive, and overwhelming, paralleling the illicit, chaotic, and overwhelming flood of information Lucy’s brain was grappling with.
8 of the over 800 CSGI shots were designed to visualize neural connections, molecular transformations, and cosmic awareness. Visualizing these abstract concepts warranted time, effort, and digital artistry. Besson and the crew had to engage in deep philosophical conversations for the climactic scene of the film where Besson and Lucy was watching the birth of the planet.
The Reception and Performance at the Theater
When Lucy became available to viewers, it was perceived with doubt and uncertainty, in part because many potential viewers believed it was just an action movie with a thin veneer of sci-fi, a belief echoed by critics and preview audiences. Consumers, however, reacted positively. At the decade’s close, Lucy could boast of a box office of 460 million dollars, an extraordinary sum for an original science fiction film.
Perplexed, many viewers however remained intrigued. Online discussion boards focused on the film with an unusual intensity.
Fans engaged in passionate debates on issues such as:
- How close did Lucy get to being a god?
- What did the ending say about the evolution of consciousness?
- Was it really about a transformation, or the awakening was purely metaphorical and internal?
- The ambiguity surrounding the different possible interpretations of the film played a role in cultivating the film’s reputation.
- The Philosophy Underlying The Affray
Luc Besson declared that Lucy was about ‘purpose’ and ‘not about power’. Having control over time, knowledge and nature, to what would seem to be an obsession, is what power is to humanity. Lucy’s evolution culminating with the realization that true control and power is control is the essence of ‘enlightenment’.
Provocative as it is, the line, ‘Life was given to us a billion years ago. What have we done with it?’ could be termed the thesis of the film. Lucy transcends all matter, and to be left behind as a testament of all she had learned, she leaves a single USB.
A modern myth states that Eve did not eat the apple; she became the apple — the source of knowledge.
Scarlett Johansson’s Legacy Through Lucy
As a result of Lucy’s success, Scarlett Johansson’s career trajectory was reshaped and proved she grasped the ability to lead a global box office hit without relying on a corporate franchise. The movie also provided a springboard for more significant roles in the sci-fi genre — resulting in Ghost in the Shell and more philosophical roles in Her.
In regard to commercial success, Lucy stands as one of those rare films that manages to divide critics but captivate audiences — for it challenges and attempts to unify seemingly opposing concepts of gunfire and metaphysics, chaos and enlightenment.
It’s not a tale about world saving; it’s a story about world understanding. And perhaps that is the reason that, ten years later, people still whisper its final line as though it is a revelation.
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