Every night, a masked intruder breaks into May’s home and tries to kill her. No-one is concerned though; not husband Ted, and certainly not the cops. It’s just how things are. With no-one to turn to for help, May must take matters into her own hands to stop her stalker’s actions from escalating. But for how long can she keep her defences up? And why does no-one give a shit?

The why isn’t terribly important – it’s just the way things are, after all – and Natasha Kermani’s Lucky provides no such easy answers. Screenwriter Brea Grant steps in front of the camera for this fiercely allegorical home invasion thriller. As self-help author May Ryer, she’s a revelation, taking both the film’s action and dramatic beats in her stride. Well, she should. She wrote it, after all. Having also written and directed the hell out of the comedic thriller 12 Hour Shift, Lucky goes to show (if you didn’t know it already) that she can act up a storm too.

While those expecting a straightforward home invasion thriller will likely be thrown off, Lucky does come with its bona fides. Its masked intruder (known only as The Man) is a magnificently creepy presence, stalking his way around May’s lovely house like a translucent-faced Michael Myers. While the film is never truly scary nor quite as tense as it might be, it is a fully functional home invasion thriller, up there with the best of them. This it does on its own terms, laying on the allegory as thick as it comes. It’s John Carpenter with a side order of Kafka; a feminist Groundhog Day; or Happy Death Day with something to say for itself. If its message rubs some people up the wrong way... good.

However one chooses to engage with the film and its message, Lucky is an exciting, fresh take on one of horror’s most enduring subgenres. For its director, it’s a great follow-up to her Imitation Girl. For its screenwriter and leading lady, it represents another ball knocked out of the park. There’s no luck to it; this is great work, and one of the smartest and most original genre movies this year.