Good Luck To You, Leo Grande movie review: A delightful slice of pie

The 2022 Sundance Film Festival has been filled with far more misses than hits. Well, today, I will admit the tides have turned. I share my review of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

Nancy is a widowed woman who has never explored anything within her sexual desires. She was married to the same man for a long time. It was the same routine repeatedly, and he never had her in mind when it came to pleasure. Some would say he was a bit of a prude. However, Nancy wanted to feel satisfied for once in her life, and who could blame her?

When we meet Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), she is sitting down with Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), who she just paid to have sex with. So naturally, she is freaking out because she’s never done something like this before and she’s got a million questions and even more things to say to attempt to delay the inevitable. No matter how hard she tried, he would always bring it back to why they were there.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is full of heart

One of the more fascinating things about the film is how delicate they treat the idea of an escort. We often see it displayed in films as this horrible thing and no matter how you feel about it, it shows the potential good in what it can bring to the table. It never crosses the prototypical line they do with this type of story.

"We perform a 69, if that’s what it’s still called."

Another thing that stands out is Katy Bran’s writing about sex. Another thing that isn’t always painted in this delicate way shows the vulnerability and honesty surrounding it. Her writing shows the awkwardness, but the reality at the same time. I was thoroughly impressed by the number of layers within her writing in this script.

None of this would have worked without the performances. The topic being so delicate, as I mentioned, you have to have two actors willing to be vulnerable. Starting with Emma Thompson, who has had an incredible career. However, I’m not sure we’ve seen her as endearing as we did in this film. We watched an elderly lady who was scared and nervous become someone completely different. I loved how they showed no matter your age, you can change or differ your opinions on things. Thompson embodies this character to perfection and it’s a performance you won’t want to miss.

Where has Daryl McCormack been all of our lives? He handles the role of Leo with such poignant charm that it makes you love his character. Although a man of hire, Leo handled his job with grace in a way he made those who hired him feel things about themselves outside of the pleasure. McCormack is an absolute delight in this role and I hope this leads to more roles for him.

I loved the intimate setting director Sophie Hyde and the team presented. It’s in a hotel room for 95% of the film and we have a very strong script that is yet personal and how they utilized the setting to make the hotel room feel as important as the story was brilliant.

One of my biggest concerns is how this would end, because they could have gone so many different ways that would have been a letdown. But, instead, the final act wasn’t what I was expecting and that’s a good thing. I won’t go into much detail because I want you to watch this without knowing how things unfold.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is a delightful film with so much more heart than you can ever imagine.