For the Haitian-American, West Palm Beach native, Edson Jean, “Ludi” is a personal story. Set in Miami’s Little Haiti neighborhood, the compact drama concerns a Haitian immigrant nurse, Ludi (Shein Mompremier), tirelessly working to supply her niece’s American dream. A low-stakes slice of life drama, with a high emotional toll, Jean and co-writer Joshua Jean-Baptiste’s script follows the health care worker for a night as she tries to earn extra money for her family back home. During its smoothly paced 80-minute runtime, Jean’s feature debut “Ludi” is a powerful, insightful critique of the American dream.
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See, nothing comes easy for Ludi. She hasn’t visited home or her niece for some time. She can’t. Because she barely makes enough to pay rent to another nurse, her manipulative landlady Blanca (Madelin Marchant), much less take a day off. In fact, she’s been working double shifts at the hospital for two weeks in order to make ends meet. Even calling home isn’t easy because that would require extra phone payments. Instead, she communicates with her family by mailing messages recorded on audio cassettes. The beguiling aunt begins to fray, however, after receiving the latest message from her niece. She’s graduating and needs the money for a dress, a small luxury that feels far beyond Ludi’s reach.
Even though Ludi is prohibited from taking private nursing gigs outside of the hospital, she takes a shady off-hours job from Blanca to get the dress. She knows of an older patient suffering from dementia who needs to be watched for the night. And the money is good. Before going further, it must be noted that while Jean’s film features a tiny cast, the character sketching he and Jean-Baptiste perform creates supporting players who are totally lived-in.
For instance, Success St. Fleur Jr. plays fellow nurse Evans, who provides comic relief as a lusting co-worker but also understands Evans’ workplace toxicity. Her religious best friend Sherry (Kerline Alce) not only informs Ludi’s unflinching faith but provides the film with an underlying theme — the ways devotion brings comfort. Also fully fashioned is the outside world, from the colorful streets to the zealot bus driver. Jean based his film on his mother’s experiences, and the personal touch from the “Moonlight” actor shows.
The film’s central conflict between Ludi and the aforementioned elderly patient George (a perfectly calibrated Alan Myles Heyman) discovers equal heart. As opposed to cinematographer Juan Camilo Barriga’s earlier warm glowing photography, George’s apartment is conceived as a coldly lit claustrophobic hole. In fact, it’s telling that we see almost no personal effects in his house; no pictures or mementos. Instead, post-it notes scribbled with reminders for his daily chores decorate his walls. The acidic George feels patronized by Ludi. He doesn’t believe he needs a nurse. Rather George thinks of her as a ploy by his children to work him into the grave faster. But in reality, George is just lonely. Like so many elderly, he now feels abandoned by his adult kids. Causing him to take his frustrations out on Ludi during the whole span of their wretched evening.
If one could compare Mompremier to a current actress, visually and emotionally, down to their charisma and charm, Nicole Beharie should come to mind. With “Miss Juneteenth,” Beharie, of course, won acclaim as a mother working her fingers to the bone to provide a dress for her daughter’s beauty pageant. Needless to say, for both characters, the dress is more than a dress.
The garment, and to a larger extent in “Miss Juneteenth,” the beauty pageant, represents the fulfillment of a promised upward mobility. It signifies an opportunity lost by the mother that the next generation might still have. It’s why the sanguine Ludi puts up with so much abuse from the cantankerous George: The alternative would mean admitting failure, not just to her niece, but to herself. Side note: Heyman very much possesses a Bruce Dern air of crankiness to him. And now, I want a Beharie-Dern movie.
Even so, while it’s enthralling to see Ludi and George’s antagonist dynamic play out. To see them eventually soften toward one another and find some common ground. Jean and Jean-Baptiste don’t necessarily stick the landing. See, the pair lean too heavily on religion being a guiding lifeforce. As though simple prayer might heal all. It gives Ludi a balm by which to carry on. To become clear-eyed about the failings of the American dream for immigrants like her. But it’s not clear whether a divine devotion means as much personally to George’s situation. Because George doesn’t feel abandoned by God, he feels forgotten by his kids. While every thread needn’t be tied, the bareness of George’s final scene carries an unintended feeling of tragedy to it.
Still, even if Jean and Jean-Baptiste forget the dessert, a day in the life of the hardworking Ludi is a full meal. Mompremier claims a breakout performance. Heyman is a long-hidden talent. And Jean shows a unique perspective and eye. Jean’s “Ludi” is the type of low-stakes drama that’s easy to root for, and even more wonderful to see. [B-]
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