Good Luck to You, Leo Grande | |
---|---|
Directed by | Sophie Hyde |
Written by | Katy Brand |
Produced by |
|
Starring | |
Cinematography | Bryan Mason |
Edited by | Bryan Mason |
Music by | Stephen Rennicks |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by |
|
Release dates |
|
Running time | 97 minutes |
Countries | |
Language | English |
Budget | $4 million [3] |
Box office | $9.8 million [4] |
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is a 2022 sex comedy drama film directed by Sophie Hyde and written by Katy Brand. The film stars Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack. The story revolves around a woman who seeks a young sex worker to help her experience pleasurable sex.
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on 22 January 2022, and was released on 17 June 2022, theatrically in the United Kingdom by Lionsgate, and digitally in the United States by Searchlight Pictures as a Hulu original film. The film was critically acclaimed with praise given to the film's performances, specifically Thompson, who received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for her performance.
In a hotel room, Nancy Stokes welcomes a male sex worker named Leo Grande. Anxious, she explains that she has never had an orgasm, and has vowed never again to fake one after the death of her husband two years earlier. Nancy is insecure about her body and age, and embarrassed at having hired Leo, who tries to put her at ease.
Leo expresses no shame about sex work, but he reveals that his mother believes him to be an oil rig worker. Nancy shares that she is disappointed in her adult children, adding that she is a retired religious education teacher. Her husband was her only sexual partner and found oral sex demeaning, and they never deviated from unfulfilling missionary sex for thirty-one years together.
Nancy recounts her most sensual experience: as a teenager on a family holiday in Greece, a hotel worker took an interest in her. Alone in the garden, he began kissing and fingering her before being interrupted, and she left the following day. Seeing Nancy aroused and relaxed by her own story, Leo kisses and fingers her.
A week later, Nancy meets Leo in the same hotel room for a second session. Though still not having achieved an orgasm, she has prepared a bucket list of sexual activities to experience for the first time, beginning with fellatio. Nancy remains anxious, worsened by phone calls from her daughter, but Leo relaxes her through dancing and a massage. Fearing that she sacrificed her youth and potential adventures for her family, she is overwhelmed after touching a shirtless Leo, who encourages her to embrace her own body.
Leo reveals he has a younger brother in the military, from whom he is estranged. When he suggests Nancy book more sessions, she accuses him of trying to make more money. He tells her about his other clients, explaining that he obtains genuine pleasure from seeing their pleasure. Nancy sees Leo becoming aroused as he describes his work, which in turn arouses her, and she finally performs fellatio on him.
Nancy books Leo for a third session in the same room. He performs oral sex on her, the second item on her list, which she enjoys but does not bring her to orgasm. She admits to cyberstalking and uncovering Leo's real name, Connor. Upset, Leo tells her not to book him again, threatening to expose her as a client. Nancy asks if they can be friends and encourages him to tell his family about his work, even offering to speak to his mother. Leo reveals that his mother tells people he is dead, and storms out. Returning to retrieve his phone, he angrily admits that his mother disowned him when he was fifteen, and leaves.
Nancy books Leo for a fourth session, arranging to meet in the hotel's cafe where their waitress, Becky, turns out to be her former student. Nancy thanks Leo for her newfound confidence and sexual awakening, and has discreetly recommended him to several friends. She admits her real name is Susan Robinson, and that he is the only true adventure she has ever had. Becky interrupts with a story about Susan shaming her and her friends for their short skirts, calling them "sluts".
Leo has revealed his job to his brother, reconnecting with him. He also explains that his mother disowned him after catching him and several friends having group sex; she no longer acknowledges his existence, even walking past him in the street. Susan apologises to Becky for her past judgmental behaviour, confessing her real relationship to Leo and recommending his services.
Susan and Leo enjoy a final session in their room, passionately engaging in all the remaining acts on Susan's list, but she is still yet to orgasm. While Leo looks for a sex toy, Susan watches him walk around naked and masturbates, giving herself her first orgasm. She thanks Leo, telling him this will be their final session, as she does not need him anymore. They part amicably. Alone, Susan appreciates her own naked body. [5]
In October 2020, it was announced that Emma Thompson would star in a film directed by Sophie Hyde from a screenplay by Katy Brand. [6] The film is a joint project between Genesius Pictures and Cornerstone Films, with Debbie Gray and Adrian Politowski producing. [6] Daryl McCormack joined the cast in February 2021. [7]
Hyde said that she enjoyed working with Thompson, and the two of them worked collaboratively, with the resulting film a co-creation by both of them. "We discussed a lot, listened to each other's stories and ideas about the material." [8]
Principal photography began on 8 March 2021 and concluded on 20 April 2021. Filming locations included London and Norwich. [3] [9]
McCormack and Thompson did not require an intimacy coordinator to orchestrate their sex scenes. [10] Regarding her nude scene for the film, Thompson has commented that "[i]t's very challenging to be nude at 62". [11]
Cornerstone Films handled international sales and sold the film to independent distributors. [12] In October 2021, Lionsgate acquired UK distribution rights to the film. [13]
The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, [14] which at the last minute was changed to an online rather than in-person event because of an increase in cases of the Omicron variant during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, on 22 January. [8] Following the premiere, Searchlight Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film for $7.5 million, planning to release it through the streaming service Hulu. [15] [16]
On 17 June 2022, the film was released theatrically in the United Kingdom and on Hulu in the United States. [17] [18] The film was released in Australian cinemas on 18 August 2022 by Roadshow Films, [19] [20] [21] with some preview screenings accompanied by a Q&A session with Hyde and cinematographer Bryan Mason in the preceding week, [22] including in their hometown of Adelaide. [23]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 221 reviews, with an average rating of 7.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Sexual awakening stories aren't in short supply, but Good Luck to You, Leo Grande proves you can still tell one with a refreshing – and very funny – spin." [24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 78 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [25]
A review in The New York Times by Lisa Kennedy described the film as "a tart and tender probe into sex and intimacy, power dynamics and human connection." [26] Describing the two lead actors, her review says, "Thompson is terrifically agile with the script's zingers and revelations. A relative newcomer, McCormack moves between wit, compassion and vulnerability with grace." [26] In a review for RogerEbert.com, critic Sheila O'Malley praised the film, writing, "It's a relief to see a film so frank about sex, and so open to sex's complexities, especially when so much of current cinema is sexless to a disheartening degree. 'Leo Grande' cares about sex for older women, and not just sex, but the baggage associated with sex, and how that baggage robs us of joy and fulfillment. Also revelatory is the film's non-judgmental attitude towards sex work." [27] Writing for the Los Angeles Times , critic Justin Chang wrote, "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande presents itself as a corrective, with an earnestness that verges on the Utopian; for all its low-key intimacy and emotional realism, this movie knows it's selling a fantasy of its own. But it's hard not to warm to that fantasy, or to embrace its still-rare vision of a woman learning to articulate and satisfy her most human impulses. It's good for Nancy. And for us." [28] In a review for the progressive publication People's World , journalist Chauncey K. Robinson highlighted how the film seemingly destroyed the "mythos that women stop living for themselves after they reach a certain point in their lives." [29]
Dame Emma Thompson is a British actress and screenwriter. Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and her accolades include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a Dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama.
Emily Jean "Emma" Stone is an American actress and producer. Her accolades include two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards. In 2017, she was the world's highest-paid actress and named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
"The Mango" is the 65th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. It aired on September 16, 1993, and is the premiere of the show's fifth season. Larry David said that a friend of his came up with the setup of this episode: Elaine never having orgasms with Jerry. The revelation leads George to suspect his own girlfriend is faking her orgasms, while Kramer is solely concerned with getting fruit from a fruit stand that he has just been banned from.
Andrea Louise Riseborough is an English actress. She made her film debut with a small part in Venus (2006), and has since appeared in more prominent roles in Brighton Rock (2010), W.E. (2011), Shadow Dancer (2012), Oblivion (2013), Birdman (2014), Nocturnal Animals (2016), Battle of the Sexes, The Death of Stalin, Mandy, Nancy, The Grudge, Possessor, and To Leslie (2022). For the latter, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
The Vicious Kind is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written, directed, and co-produced by Lee Toland Krieger. It stars Adam Scott, Brittany Snow, Alex Frost, and J. K. Simmons. It follows a misanthropic man who tries to warn his brother away from the new girlfriend he brings home during Thanksgiving, but ends up becoming infatuated with her in the process.
Katherine Frances Brand, known as Katy Brand, is an English actress, comedian and writer, known for her ITV2 series Katy Brand's Big Ass Show and for Comedy Lab Slap on Channel 4.
A gigolo is a male escort or social companion who is supported by a person in a continuing relationship.
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival takes place every January in Park City, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; and at the Sundance Resort, and acts as a showcase for new work from American and international independent filmmakers. The festival consists of competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, both feature films and short films, and a group of out-of-competition sections, including NEXT, New Frontier, Spotlight, Midnight, Sundance Kids, From the Collection, Premieres, and Documentary Premieres. Many films premiering at Sundance have gone on to be nominated and win Oscars such as Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor in a Leading Role.
Zoey Francis Chaya Thompson Deutch is an American actress. The younger daughter of director Howard Deutch and actress-director Lea Thompson, Deutch made her acting debut in television during the early 2010s, with roles on Disney Channel's The Suite Life on Deck (2010–2011) and CW's Ringer (2011–2012).
Margaret Betts is an American filmmaker. Her debut feature Novitiate was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival and received a Jury Award for her direction.
Nancy is a 2018 American psychological drama film written and directed by Christina Choe in her feature directorial debut. It stars Andrea Riseborough in the title role, with J. Smith-Cameron, Ann Dowd, John Leguizamo, and Steve Buscemi in supporting roles. It follows a serial imposter who, blurring lines between fact and fiction, becomes increasingly convinced she was kidnapped as a child.
Wild Wild Country is a Netflix documentary series about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho), his one-time personal assistant Ma Anand Sheela, and their community of followers in the Rajneeshpuram community located in Wasco County, Oregon, US. It was released on Netflix on March 16, 2018, after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. The title of the series is drawn from the Bill Callahan song "Drover", which features prominently in the final episode, and it also echoes the comments of Jane Stork about first seeing the ranch, shown at the beginning of episode 2: "it was just so wild, so rugged, but vast—really wild country".
Emma Margaret Marie Tachard-Mackey is a British and French actress. Her breakthrough performance in the Netflix comedy-drama series Sex Education (2019–2023) earned her a British Academy Television Award nomination. Mackey has since starred in the mystery film Death on the Nile (2022) and portrayed Emily Brontë in the drama film Emily (2022). She won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2023.
Animals is a 2019 comedy-drama film directed by Sophie Hyde, starring Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat. It was screened in the Premieres category at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. An adaptation of Emma Jane Unsworth's 2014 novel of the same name, the film follows best friends Laura and Tyler whose lifestyle comes under scrutiny just as Laura becomes engaged to a teetotaller.
Sophie Hyde is an Australian film director, writer, and producer based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is co-founder of Closer Productions and known for her award-winning debut fiction film, 52 Tuesdays (2013) and the comedy drama Animals (2019). She has also made several documentaries, including Life in Movement (2011), a documentary about dancer and choreographer Tanja Liedtke, and television series, such as The Hunting (2019). Her latest film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2022. Her upcoming film Jimpa stars Olivia Colman and John Lithgow.
Daryl McCormack is an Irish actor. Trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, he made his acting debut in the soap opera Fair City (2015–2016). He appeared in the BBC series Peaky Blinders (2019–2022), the film Pixie (2020), and the Apple TV+ series Bad Sisters (2022). His portrayal of the title role in the sex comedy-drama Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022) earned him a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In 2023, he won the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival.
CODA is a 2021 coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Sian Heder. An English-language remake of the 2014 French-Belgian film La Famille Bélier, it stars Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi, the child of deaf adults (CODA) and only hearing member of her family, who attempts to help her family's struggling fishing business while pursuing her aspirations to become a singer.
Adrian Politowski né Murshid is a BAFTA-nominated Swedish film producer, fund manager, and entrepreneur. He co-founded and was CEO of Umedia from 2004 to 2019. He currently is the Executive Chairman of the production and financing group Align that he co-founded and ran as CEO (2019-2024). His career is focused on three areas:
The 2022 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20 to 30, 2022. Due to COVID-19 pandemic protocol, it was initially intended to be an in-person/virtual hybrid festival, but on January 5, 2022, it was announced that the in-person components would be scrapped in favor of a wholly virtual festival due to the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 9, 2021.
The 19th Irish Film & Television Academy Awards, also called the IFTA Film & Drama Awards 2023 or the 20th Anniversary IFTA Awards, took place on 7 May 2023 and was hosted by Deirdre O'Kane in the new Dublin Royal Convention Centre, situated on Ship Street, close to Dublin Castle. It honoured Irish films and television drama released between 1 January 2022 and 11 March 2023. The nominations were announced on 6 March 2023.