Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Sophie Hyde & Katy Brand
2022
Sex and Art
This British sex comedy-drama written, directed and performed by three women, starring Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack, takes place in a hotel room where Nancy, a recently widowed pensioner, meets a sex worker on a few occasions after experiencing a less-than-fulfilling sex life in her marriage. Nancy discovers her body and her pleasure, and Nancy discovers her body and her pleasure, and confronts her prejudices about sex work.
There I was sitting on a Friday morning in the cinema with a bunch of people which were mostly 50 plus waiting to see Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack in the movie ‘Good luck to you, Leo Grande’. From the very first beginning you might think, it’s just another movie about sex but as soon as you get to know Nancy Stokes, who is a retired teacher and widow and Leo Grande, a handsome young sex worker you discover that it’s a layered story about pleasure, desire, surrender, vulnerability and intimacy. Nancy never experienced an orgasm during her married life and as she mentioned lived a very ordinary life. On her journey you might ask yourself the same questions she does, ‘What does pleasure means?’, ‘Do I allow myself to have pleasure?’, ‘Can I surrender?’, ‘Am I doing what is expected as a woman and do I have the courage to do different?’ and so on. Along the way Nancy encounters (mis)conceptions about herself and prejudices about sex workers, but slowly opens up by the non-judgmental, open minded and charming Leo. You will find out that this story is not just about sex, but includes different aspects of life which we have to deal with sooner or later.
Nynke Chin-A-Fat, working as a healthcare psychologist and sexologist