feliceLast night my husband and I were mesmerized by Emma Thompson’s performance as Nancy, a 63 year old retired schoolteacher and widow who has never had an orgasm in the new Hulu film GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE …
Nancy hires Leo Grande, a much-younger sex worker (Daryl McCormack) for a series of encounters in a hotel room. We meet her in the hotel room as she nervously awaits her first encounter and from that moment we watch Nancy find her way sexually and emotionally at this later stage of life.
There is so much to discuss about this film and I recommend every BA50 see it. What was most remarkable about the film was Emma’s open relationship with her body which she is not proud of and her quest to find comfort with it. Leo Grande is gorgeous and truly a fantasy hire and it’s fun to watch Nancy’s (Emma Thompson) attraction to Leo. But what really drew me into the film was the sadness Nancy had lived with for so long… a life without joy and without pleasure and without self acceptance.
It was hard to see that at 63 she had gone along with an unfulfilling relationship with her husband, herself and her children. We care about Nancy and we want her to find joy and so it’s easy to fall in love with her as she learns to fall in love with herself.
And, to that point, what was deeply moving was how Nancy courageously plowed forward despite her own self-judgements and was able to find joy. Leo is a masterful coach and partner and Nancy’s vulnerability had us giggling and smiling as her walls of self-protection began to dissolve.
There’s so much more to discuss but please please watch this film and would love to see your comments on our Instagram.Conversations about this film and so much more: the role of sex workers, body image and aging which are all in play in this incredible gem of a film. BA50 unequivocally gives this film an Oscar.