Lucky

In 2008, Luciana changes clothes in a gas station bathroom. The old outfit belonged to someone whom she calls Alaina (later revealed to be an identity that she adopts), and she starts calling herself Lucky when she puts on the minidress and stilettos. She buys snacks and impulsively also buys a lottery ticket. Outside, Lucky gives the old outfit, and money, to a person asking for change. Then, she gets in the car with her boyfriend, Cary, and they head towards Vegas. They talk about getting a place in Dominica and finding their lost dog, Betty.

Here, Lucky is 10 years old and traveling with her father, a con artist. She reads a stolen library book and asks him about her mother, Gloria Devereaux. He tells her that Gloria was part of St. Monica’s Parish and the gold crucifix necklace was a gift from a nun. After they check in to their hotel, Lucky goes to the lake and pool. At the latter, she meets a girl named Steph. Lucky calls herself Andrea/Andi and lies about her mother being dead after Steph says that her father is dead.

When Lucky tells her father about her new friend, her father decides that they should con Steph and her mother, Darla. He will call himself Virgil, and they will pretend that Lucky is sick and that they need money for her treatments. Lucky wants to enjoy their vacation and her friend, but her father insists on running their scam. Steph tells Lucky that they are going to pay for her treatments, and Lucky tries to tell her the truth, but Steph believes that she is sick and just trying to be optimistic.

In the Bellagio Hotel in Vegas, Lucky wins at Texas Hold’em while Cary talks to someone at the bar. She admits to bluffing after winning, then gives away all her chips. Cary won’t tell her who he was talking to and says that they should party all night, starting with a “Bottle of ‘85 Dom” (23). Lucky worries about their early flight but gives in and agrees. With a staff card, Cary leads her up to the rooftop and asks her to tell him that she loves him. She does and feels hopeful.

Lucky and her father, John, leave the Sagamore Hotel early with Darla’s money order. Lucky is sad to have lost her new friend, Steph, so John takes her to Chapel Pond where she can swim. They look at the people climbing up the cliffs that surround the water and swim out to a rock. John compliments her ability to do a hard thing: that is, sacrifice her friendship and vacation.

On the morning that Lucky and Cary were supposed to fly to Dominica, Lucky wakes up alone and late for her flight. She remembers that, at the end of the previous night, they ran into the person from the bar. Cary told her to go upstairs, where she passed out from the alcohol. Lucky turns on the television and sees a news broadcast about the crimes she and Cary (who used the alias David) committed in Idaho. She is upset at being conned by Cary but pulls herself together enough to cut and dye her hair. As she does so, she creates a new identity: Bonnie, the freelance writer. Lucky collects a few essential items—such as fake IDs, money, and the lottery ticket—and leaves the hotel.

Lucky and John were robbed after their last big score, and John lost big trying to win back some money gambling. He tells Lucky that she has to cut her hair and that they have to leave. Lucky is upset about the haircut and believes that a mother would be more understanding. She thinks about the other times that they were robbed and had to move to bigger cities to run cons. When she is distracted by trying not to cry, her father cuts off a lock of her hair. They argue, then Lucky runs away from their cabin and into the woods.

Lucky, in the present, flushes her phone’s sim card and takes the back stairs out of the Bellagio. Then, she throws away her cell, fake IDs, and her cut hair in a dumpster. She buys tourist shop clothes and makeup for her Bonnie identity. She goes back to the Bellagio in disguise and watches a poker player she gave her money to earlier. He doesn’t recognize her. Lucky claims to be writing a story for Gambling Insider, and the poker player, Jeremy, agrees to an interview in his room. As she asks questions, and he complains about Clinton running for president, she takes his key card without him noticing. Lucky sneaks back into his room while he is sleeping and takes $1,000 from his safe, which holds over $20,000, and sneaks out.

Lucky runs into the woods in her nightgown and bare feet. John runs after her, but she loses him. When he is out of sight and she is exhausted, she sits on a tree stump. A lynx appears, and she remembers that her father told her to make herself look big when they encountered bears while camping. As Lucky stands on the stump and threatens the lynx, John finds her. The lynx runs off and she hugs John, who tells her that she is magic and he is the only one she can trust. They walk back to the cabin, and after cleaning up, Lucky cuts off the rest of her hair.