Good Luck to (Me) & You, Leo Grande
generational intimacy, unlearning bias, human interactions.
Switching it up and coming at ya with a little review of a recent watch: Good Luck to you, Leo Grande.
I have never seen a movie like this. I have never seen a woman over 40 experiencing pleasure/ speaking of pleasure or lack thereof openly and frankly. This film was very unexpected, I think the marketing, lack of pre-reading about it(lol) and the trailer led me to assume much about the potential raunchiness, steam and exploration of intimacy these characters would have. Thankfully, this film offered me something I wasn’t prepared for but to my surprise I was in dire need of.
The film explores the relationship between a retired teacher, recent widow(Nancy Stokes) and a cool, confident and attractive sex worker(Leo Grande). This relationship is explored in the setting of a hotel room in London. A hotel room, creates an interesting exploration of mystery and discomfort that position both of the characters personalities to truly shine. Nancy is a mother, over-thinker, uptight, scheduled and has never had an orgasm in her life despite being married for 30+ years and only having been with one man. Leo is young, sexy and comfortable in his body. He takes pride in his job, with being wanted and the pleasure he brings to his clients. Nancy has hired and reached out to Leo Grande to offer her something that she has never truly had time to think about. Pleasure. PERIOD.
Nancy has placed her own pleasure and enjoyment on the back burner while watching you can’t help but feel the pressure and urgency she puts on herself towards the future. Not only through a scene of her busting out a list of sex activities she would like to try, which sends them into one of the deepest conversations I think the film offers. She walks in the contradiction of raw and true desires and the fears of her reality. The film touches on Nancy being a teacher that policed young women for what they wore and bringing up her past of shaming young girls to not wear certain clothes. As a woman who remembers the fingertip tests for clothing in school this background had me reeling and truly empathizing with Nancy as she reckons with her past.
You can hear Nancys anxiousness and desperation of the process of liberating herself. “There are so many times where we are conditioned to think that the end of the husbands life can mean the end of life for the wife”. (taken from Pop Culture Happy Hour episode on Good Luck to You, Leo Grande). A perspective I have never seen a movie take. I believe it matters a lot! For a number of reasons, as a society we are not new to the way in which Holly wood can present roles for middle aged women. It is doing a huge disservice.
The chemistry in this film is undeniable. You can actively feel the desperate need for comfort and safety that both characters offer. The hotel setting brings out the familiarity that Leo brings to the scenes as well as the anxiousness that Nancy projects onto Leo. This film is endearing in presenting a rare and much needed perspective of pleasure, sex and love. It raises a lot of questions of how we learn about sex through such a generational lens. As someone who is on the cusp of millennial and Gen Z I notice a drastic difference in how I learned about sex compared to my younger counter parts and the generation prior.
Lastly, Leo Grande is one of the first male characters that actively creates a safe and sexy for their partner to explore themselves. I don’t think I have seen consent be presented in such a rare, honest and honestly pretty sexy way. “I don’t think this film would have landed in quite the same way before the Me Too movement and this mainstream discussion of abuse, what is abuse and what is consent and what is not consent. So I think there are so many things that have happened to make this movie part of a real Zeitgeist moment. “
(taken from the cut article)
Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack both gave such great performances. I truly enjoyed getting to see both of them explore these characters and be in an element that felt new but natural. Highly recommend the film if you are looking for something to watch.
Not sure when I will be back but hopefully sooner rather than later,
xoxo Your Little Mama
Sources:
https://www.thecut.com/2022/06/emma-thompson-good-luck-to-you-leo-grande-orgasm.html