Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022 | USA | 97 minutes | Sophie Hyde)
Sex can be many things. It can be joyous, terrifying, emotional, disposable, transactional, kinky, vanilla, rough, gentle, and everything in between. In Good Luck to You, Leo Grande it is, among all those things, revealing. Specifically, it shows us who Emma Thompson’s Nancy Stokes both is and who she wants to be.
To start, she is a widow who has hired a sex worker by the name of Leo Grande. Or at least, that is what he says his name is. Leo is played by a suave yet sensitive Daryl McCormack, exuding the confidence that comes from the ritual of going to hotel room after hotel room to have sex with strangers for money. Refreshingly, the film does not fall too much into tropes about sex work even as Nancy’s more conservative outlook comes up in the course of their rendezvous. If anything, her assumptions and misconceptions of Leo are the part of the film that provides for the richest study of her character.
The film takes place almost entirely in one room over the course of several meetings that serve as playful sexual escapades as well as more emotional explorations. This resonance relies on sharp writing and equally sharp acting to bring it to life. The film overflows with both. Thompson and McCormack give praiseworthy multilayered performances that continually draw you deeper into rather complex, if conflicted, characters. Both are acting within acting, their characters creating versions of themselves that they believe will make the sexual experience as good as it can be. When we see these outward curated personas begin to crack ever so slightly, the film really hits a sweet spot.
The first moment we see this is when Leo is left alone as Nancy freshens up in the bathroom. Immediately, his posture and expression change. He begins to snarf down a hotel candy bar, later getting caught in the act and trying to play it off like it didn’t happen. Nancy then requests he brush his teeth, one of many small details which provide a texture to the story that brings it all to life. You soon get swept up in every facet of these people and their lives that have brought them to this room. Writer Katy Brand ensures every line of dialogue crackles with a sense of charm and the tragedy living in what is left unsaid. Though the setting is minimalistic, Sophie Hyde’s delicate direction makes the most of the limited space.
Beyond these praiseworthy components, it soon becomes clear that this is an acting showcase for McCormack and Thompson. Neither set a foot wrong even as their characters frequently do. Thompson is as terrific as she has ever been and McCormack, even with less experience, more than holds his own alongside her. They challenge and poke fun at each other, teasing out little details along the way. Of course, even as the film is relatively focused in its scope, there soon comes a brewing conflict that stems from their different personalities. Without giving any specifics, much of this falls at one character’s feet and builds off of the many flaws that have been gradually revealed. This is the most dynamic scene of the film when we see lines get crossed and the two confront each other, making for a painful yet poetic argument.
Unfortunately, after this standout scene that alters everything, the film feels like it isn’t sure about how to go from there. Rather than let loose threads dangle and remain as unresolved as life can often leave them, it seems hellbent on tying everything up. It becomes a little too neat for having previously grappled with more complex emotions. Some of this tidiness may be because the story is structured as a series of extended vignettes that only show us what happens during their meetings, leaving anything of their lives outside the hotel rendezvous unseen and in the background. What we do see feels as though it is glossing over some rough patches for the sake of providing a tidy conclusion to a more complicated story.
For a film to start out with such kinetic energy and boldness, it makes for a strange disconnect when that falls by the wayside for a more conventional conclusion. It is a film with a climax that, for all the stimulating foreplay and intriguing intercourse, left me a little bit cold. The foundation of the story is still all there and remains rather insightful, making aspects of its ending feel a bit too safe. This feeling has only deepened after spending a couple of days reflecting on the way it all draws to a close. There is an argument to be made that this easy resolution is the point, that both people still have much to work through and, for now, just want to move on from this relationship. This makes the finale more forgivable even as it is still flawed.
The strengths of what does work more than outweigh any lingering weaknesses in how it wraps up, it just is unfortunate that these last-minute missteps hold it back from being spectacular. It is still quite good, great even, and more than worth seeing for the performances. One just wishes that it saw its potential all the way through until the end without feeling like it needed to apologize for itself. What I mean by this is how the characters, particularly Nancy, will often say and do very cruel things that it then seems to want to wave away. It seems like the story wanted to comprehensively absolve the character even when that wasn’t necessary to do so. People can and do remain flawed while still being ones we care for. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande mostly knows this, making it a film that finds a vibrant honesty in the most simple of places.
You can see Good Luck to You, Leo Grande starting Friday, June 17 on Hulu