One of the best received films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival was Goodluck To You, Leo Grande, a sex comedy-drama starring Emma Thompson. Now, the film is set to be released in cinemas in the UK on 17th June, and we think it’ll be one of the best films of the year.
Goodluck To You, Leo Grande has a concept that sounds closer to a stage play than a film: it’s about a relationship between an older woman who has retired and is now living as a widow after a boring marriage that left her feeling in need of self discovery. To remedy this, she hires the young sex worker Leo Grande to try and find happiness and pleasure again. The whole film features almost entirely only those two characters, is set entirely within one room in a hotel, and deals with some taboo topics.
The film is directed by Australian director Sophie Hyde, who previously directed the films 52 Tuesdays (2013) and Animals (2019). Speaking on the film, she said that she formed many of the ideas that take shape in the film by discussing them on set with Emma Thompson, saying ““My approach to working with Emma was collaborative… …[we] listened to each other’s stories and ideas about the material.”
Likewise, Daryl McCormack, who stars as Leo, said of his experience on set that he felt unsure about his suitability for the project, and the prospect of acting opposite a star like Thompson, but said in an interview with The Guardian that “in the end, your only option is to connect with the story and connect with your dancing partner. And it was Emma Thompson, so I was in good hands.” Thanks to an online premiere with a tapered down audience thanks to the Omicron variant earlier this year, the film has yet to make a sizeable buzz outside of film fans, but the wider release in the UK on 17th June will hopefully change that.
GOODLUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE RELEASES ON 17TH JUNE IN THE UK
