Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Hulu release poster
Directed by	Sophie Hyde
Written by	Katy Brand
Produced by	Adrian Politowski Debbie Gray
Starring	Emma Thompson Daryl McCormack
Cinematography	Bryan Mason
Edited by	Bryan Mason
Music by	Stephen Rennicks
Production companies	Genesius Pictures Align
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release dates	22 January 2022 (2022-01-22) (Sundance) 17 June 2022 (2022-06-17) (United Kingdom)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Box office	$757,250

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is a 2022 British sex comedy-drama film directed by Sophie Hyde and written by Katy Brand. The film stars Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande had its world premiere at the 2022 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.

Plot

In a hotel room, Nancy Stokes welcomes a young sex worker named Leo Grande. Nancy is anxious, having booked him online in a rare moment of self-indulgence within a largely repressed life. Nancy explains that her husband, who died two years ago, was the only sexual partner she ever had, and their sex life was extremely unfulfilling. Her husband never allowed her to perform oral sex on him or performed it on her, declaring the act to be demeaning to him. Nancy has never experienced an orgasm in her life, only faking them for her husband during the passionless missionary sex they never deviated from. Nancy is also embarrassed about her physical appearance and age, which Leo has no qualms about and encourages her to embrace.

Nancy talks with Leo so she can be comfortable enough to be physically intimate. She shares details about her adult children, whom she feels disappointed by, and her previous work as a religious education teacher. Leo reciprocates with some details about his life, including that his mother believes him to be an oil rig worker. Despite hiding his actual job from his family, Leo expresses no shame or regret about sex work, considering it a necessary service, and assuaging Nancy's embarrassment over hiring him.

Nancy relates the most sensual experience she ever had was as a teenager on a family vacation in Greece; a hotel worker took an interest in her, and while they were alone in the hotel garden, he began kissing and fingering her before being interrupted and running away. Seeing Nancy aroused and relaxed by her own story, Leo fingers and kisses her.

A week later, Nancy meets Leo in the same room for a second session, having been satisfied, despite not achieving an orgasm. Nancy presents Leo with a bucket list of sexual activities she wishes to experience for the first time, beginning with a blowjob. However, Nancy is again anxious about being intimate with Leo. Her nerves are worsened by phone calls from her daughter, who has overly relied on Nancy since her father's death. Leo relaxes Nancy through dancing and a massage. When Leo advises her to not obsess over finishing her entire list of sex acts in one night, Nancy talks about sacrificing her youth and potential adventures for her family. Leo reveals he has a younger brother in the military, from whom he is estranged.

Leo suggests Nancy book more sessions to reduce the pressure she is placing on herself to perform. This offends Nancy, who accuses him of trying to make more money off her. She asks Leo why he does sex work, and he explains he gets genuine pleasure from seeing his clients be pleasured, whoever they are and whatever their preferences may be. 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. This time he performs oral sex on her, the second item on her list, which she enjoys, but still doesn't bring her to orgasm. Nancy attempts to pry Leo for more details about his life, which he deflects, saying that he is there to provide a fantasy and nothing more. Nancy admits to cyberstalking Leo and uncovering his real name: Connor. Nancy asks if they can be friends outside of these sessions, encourages Leo to tell his family about his work, and even offers to speak to his mother on his behalf.

Upset at Nancy's invasion of his privacy, Leo gets dressed and tells Nancy to never book him again, threatening to expose her as a client if she attempts to contact his family or reveal his personal details to anyone else. Shortly after storming out, Leo returns to retrieve a cell phone he left in the room. Before finding his phone and leaving, Leo admits his mother disowned him when he was fifteen years old, out of disgust for who he was, and tells people he is dead.

Nancy books Leo for a fourth session but arranges to meet him in the hotel's cafe so she can apologize to him and say goodbye. She takes responsibility for her behavior and admits her real name is Susan Robinson. She thanks Leo for making her feel confident in herself and sexually awakened. She has recommended Leo to several women within her circle, whom she believes desperately need his services as much as she had. In turn, Leo reveals the reason his mother disowned him is because she caught him and several friends having group sex when he was a teenager. His mother will still not acknowledge his existence, even walking past him when they recently saw each other in public. However, Leo revealed his job to his brother, and they are beginning to talk again.

A waitress named Becky turns out to be one of Nancy's former students, and interrupts them to tell a story about Nancy chastising her and her friends for wearing short skirts to school, calling them "sluts". Nancy apologizes for her past judgmental behavior, and confesses her relationship to Leo, recommending his services to Becky as well. Nancy invites Leo for a final session in their hotel room upstairs, where they passionately engage in all of the remaining sex acts on Nancy's list. Despite going through all of them, Nancy is still yet to orgasm. While Leo looks for a sex toy he brought to help, Nancy watches him walk around naked and begins to masturbate, giving herself her first orgasm. When Leo leaves the morning after, Nancy thanks him and tells him that this will be their final session, as she doesn't need him anymore. Alone in the hotel room, Nancy admires her own naked body.

Cast

• Emma Thompson as Nancy Stokes / Susan Robinson
• Daryl McCormack as Leo Grande / Connor
• Isabella Laughland as Becky
• Charlotte Ware as Waitress 1
• Carina Lopes as Waitress 2

Production

Development and casting

In October 2020, it was announced that Emma Thompson would star in a film directed by Sophie Hyde from a screenplay by Katy Brand. The film is a joint project between Genesius Pictures and Cornerstone Films, with Debbie Gray and Adrian Politowski producing.

Daryl McCormack joined the cast in February 2021.

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."

Filming

Principal photography began on 8 March 2021 and concluded on 20 April 2021. Filming locations included London and Norwich.

Release

Cornerstone Films is handling international distribution with Lionsgate.

In October 2021, Lionsgate acquired U.K. distribution rights to the film.

It premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, 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 2022.

Following the premiere, Searchlight Pictures acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film for Hulu. On 11 March 2022, it was revealed the film would be released on Hulu on 17 June 2022. The film was also theatrically released by Lionsgate UK in the United Kingdom on the same date.

Reception

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." 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." In a review on 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. 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."

Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 97% based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The website's critical 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."

External links

• Good Luck to You, Leo Grande at IMDb