Scarlett Johansson, fresh off her recent stint of successful films in Hollywood, is not one to rest on her laurels alone. The gritty, sexy actress is now pushing the envelope, and attempting something wholly “different”, in her next film- a science-fiction thriller called Lucy.

Scarlett plays a drug mule in the film, who is unwittingly caught in a drug racket, and forced into transporting lethal chemical substances. Things go awry when the chemicals begin to leak into her body, rendering her with almost superhuman powers.

The trailer of Lucy, directed by acclaimed French director Luc Besson, is edgy and fast-paced. The scene opens with Scarlett having no memory of what transpired the previous night, and waking up foggy and befuddled. Then, she is dragged into the drug scam, where she is beaten and coerced into being a drug mule for a Chinese mafia boss.

The trailer itself is pretty graphic, with scenes of violence and rape dominating the proceedings. Scarlett is shown being beaten up by the drug lords. Scarlett then discovers the drug has entered her bloodstream, and enabled her to use 28% of her cerebral capacity, over and above the normal 10%. She is then shown getting in touch with a college professor, whose research she reads over the internet within a span of a few hours.

The premise of the film seems similar to that of Bradley Cooper starrer Limitless, which also deals with the power of harnessing chemicals to increase one’s brain capacity. The achievements once this happen seem similar to the previous film, with Scarlett picking up spoken and written Mandarin in a matter of an hour, and being able to use her enhanced mental capacity to stun humans into submission.

The theme of the film is exploring what the human mind is capable of. As Morgan Freeman, who plays the professor in the film, sums it up in the trailer: “It is estimated that human beings use only 10% of the capacity of the mind. Imagine if we could use 100%. Interesting things will begin to happen then.”

All in all, the film looks marvellous, and it will be wonderful to see the usually pretty and sensual Scarlett attempt something so entirely out of her comfort zone. She seems more than believable as Lucy, a girl who will now use the caustic situation to her advantage.

Lucy, which also stars Morgan Freeman and Lee Chun, releases on August, 08 2014, and is sure to take the global box office by storm.