Cert - 15, Run-time - 1 hours 38 minutes,

Director - Sophie Hyde

Retired teacher Nancy (Emma Thompson) hires sex worker Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) hoping to discover the sexual freedom that has been missing from her life.

It’s not often that I find myself watching a film and instantly looking forward to writing the review. However, in the case of Good Luck To You, Leo Grande there’s much to be unlocked thanks to the conversations it glimpses and encourages. The mind swirls with thoughts, and ramblings, long after the brief credits have flashed by. There’s plenty to unpack, evolve and discuss within the film’s fast-flowing 98 minutes. Much of which is slightly incredible seeing as it’s 2022...

Sophie Hyde’s excellently directed film follows Emma Thompson’s initially anxiety-ridden Nancy. A retired RE teacher, she paces her hired hotel room in front of younger, “aesthetically pleasing and seemingly nice enough” sex worker Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), who she has enlisted the services of in the hope of experiencing the sexual freedom she never obtained during her long marriage to her two-years-passed husband. “There are nuns out there with more sexual experience than me” she claims amongst her splurge of worries: from body image to whether she’ll be good enough for the man whose company she’s hired.

Katy Brand’s wonderful screenplay follows the pair in the same room across a handful of un-stagelike encounters as they get to know each other, and their respective anxieties. Such themes are tapped into with care and eloquence, helped by Thompson’s typically thoughtful stylings and mannerisms - it’s clear she knows what this film means, including to her individually.

Amongst the effective humour that’s on offer, including a very unexpected ‘your mum’ joke which fits perfectly into its surroundings, Nancy finds her worries and barriers gradually taken down. She begins to reclaim herself and her sexual identity from years of unfulfillment in an almost audible snap created within the floating music which gently sweeps into the background during the pivotal moments of sensuality. Wrapping up the themes and conversations that have just occurred before moving on to further progress them.

Whilst naturally delving into themes of female sexuality; without provocative proclamation, the film additionally opens the door for points about male body positivity, alongside shared views and worries. As Nancy prepares herself in the bathroom, Leo looks at himself in the mirror. Scanning his body, thoughts clearly rushing through his mind through the subtleties of McCormack’s fine performance, including the various details his character hides - claiming to tell his potentially distant mum and brother that he works on an oil rig.

The lightness and humour within Good Luck To You, Leo Grande make the summarising snaps all the more poignant. Not allowing pause, but reflection on what’s been seen, what’s happening and what’s being discussed, again in 2022. Like the characters grow to be, the film is unashamed about what it is and what it poses to the audience. It’s a film for natural openings of conversation that will likely be highly effective in doing just that, doing so in a wonderfully entertaining way.

Jamie Skinner - Four stars.