Good Luck To You Leo Grande (2022) is a sex comedy-drama film that has a run time of 97 mins. It is directed by Sophie Hyde and produced by SearchLight Productions. It is available to watch on demand and on Hulu.
Good Luck To You Leo Grande Cast
- Emma Thompson as Nancy Stokes
- Daryl McCormack as Leo Grande
Good Luck To You Leo Grande Plot
Nancy Stokes has a bucket list of sexual activities she wants to experience. To check off the list she hires Leo Grande. When he meets her, doubts arise giving way to a conversation about each other’s lives.
Good Luck To You Leo Grande Review
Having taken a long hiatus from this extremely grueling job, I would love to say that I am back. Hilarious. In the span of one month, I have consumed enough films and series that have generated the need to type my mind out about them. None were as overwhelming as this one.
Good Luck To You, Leo Grande was an extremely risky gamble for the producers. It demands the attention of the audience but provides only two characters and a room. The two characters are Leo Grande and Nancy Stokes. Granted that Emma Thompson plays the protagonist so a great performance is guaranteed, this movie elevates these assurances with the pure chemistry between her and Daryl McCormack.
The story is about Nancy Stokes trying to bring adventure into her life by hiring a male escort. Leo Grande sells a fantasy. He probes Nancy into letting go. Both in terms of sex and life. Nancy wanted to fulfill everything that she hadn’t and for her, that was limited to sex but through her time with Leo, she is able to unearth many other aspects of power and intimacy.
Leo Grande is someone who enjoys his line of work. He fancies his clients. He has a relationship with them because he believes the regularity of their meets is what makes the fantasy he is selling a reality. Daryl himself is a dream so the appeal he intends to create is present regardless. His eagerness to give the best transforms into introspection and nervousness which is such a surprise and treat to watch. He truly stole the movie.
It is different for everyone…
The best part of this movie was none of the conversations were too stressful to handle. That being said, they brought out so many important components of relationships, expectations, and distress that my mind is still whirring from the time I watched the movie. Sexuality has always been an interesting discussion. As much as one thinks they know themselves in terms of sex, they never truly do. Sex is so much more than the entire action. It is meant to be different for everyone. Some aspects are told by all to be necessary or enjoyable and so it feels like it should be. In the movie, Nancy talks about how she has never experienced how sex is shown. Never gone down on someone or done it in any position apart from missionary. Her insecurity about not being interesting stems from that.
The movie through Leo Grande tries to broach the topic of how sex is experienced. Perceived. As mentioned, Leo is a beautiful man. It is part of his character. Nancy feels that for him she will not be pleasurable and starts the train wreck of thoughts. These are minute details that don’t normally come up in conversations. People have it engrained in on how bodies should look like and if they don’t then what their type can be. A person assumes they need to be attractive to make a societally attractive person like them.
At the same time, Leo is constantly conscious of how his beauty is perceived. For him, his worth is limited to whether he is able to continue looking good. The movie has both these thoughts and insecurities so carefully intertwined. They are delicately communicated and directed that one feels comforted in knowing that it is not just them.
In addition to great writing, the movie also excels in cinematography. The way the hotel room is shot, makes it look like a sprawling area with each of its spots being used with care. Though the room is actually pretty small, one can only notice that upon forced concentration. The environment seems big when the chemistry with a person is so powerful. The only thing important is the person in front and nothing else seems to be in focus. That is the idealogy of the shots too.
There are hardly any movies that are able to do such intricate thoughts in such a careful manner. Emma Thompson also brings out the point of how she wanted to show that age shouldn’t affect one’s comfort with their body. It is a movie that I am grateful to have watched.
Synopsis
Good Luck To You Leo Grande is a movie that is careful, beautiful, and sensational. It forces one to introspect and also comforts them about their own insecurities. A movie that everyone should watch at least once.
