Good Luck to You, Leo Grande movie crew talk bringing story to life

We have a jam-packed weekend of films coming out, but the one I want to point your attention to is Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Below, I share my interview with writer Katy Brand and the film’s director Sophie Hyde.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande follows Nancy Stokes, a 55-year-old widow who is yearning to explore life more, whether it be human connection or good sex. The film was one of my favorite films that premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival as it tackled a touchy subject in sex and the idea of hiring an escort. You often see Hollywood bring a certain stigma to these films with unimaginative ideas that paint a picture that isn’t always accurate.

Here is an excerpt from my review:

"“Katy Brand’s writing about sex stands out. 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.”"

Hidden remote sat down with Katy Brand and Sophie Hyde to talk about creating this unique film, the obstacles they faced making it, and getting that vulnerability from their two leads. Check out the video version here and here.

Interview with Good Luck to You, Leo Grande writer and director 

Hidden Remote: What inspired you to write this project?

Katy Brand: I want to help people pursue pleasure and feel pleasure. So I just felt that this was such an interesting scenario to bring someone who has suppressed their pleasure for a lifetime that knows they want to pursue it with someone who will help them do it and what that would bring in terms of what happens next.

So I’d had this idea for a long time about this older woman who had booked this young man for the night, and now she’s finally done it, and now she’s waiting for him, and it’s about to happen, and she’s terrified, and he’s about to arrive, and when he does arrive and then it’s like, what happens next? It could be really rich in terms of truth or funny. I thought this could be really funny, you know, all kinds of things could happen here. So I sat down to write a draft in January 2020 and bashed out the first draft. I haven’t spoken to anyone about it, mainly because I wanted to see what happened in this story.

HR: What about Katy’s script made you want to direct the film? 

Sophie Hyde: A couple of things. The concept felt very appealing to me. A woman who’s never had good sex decides she wants to and hires a sex worker. I found the fact that it was set in a single hotel room really thrilling. I was like, oh yeah, I really wanna do this. And also Emma Thompson was already attached. So I was like, well, the idea and Emma Thompson together is just beautiful, and I could see it. And I thought. Well, I wanna see Emma play that role. You know, I like to be part of it and I want to focus on two actors and deal with intimacy and connection and, and that’s what the that’s, what was offered in that script.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande is streaming on Hulu on June 17.