Good Luck to You, Leo Grande: Sex, Work, and Sex Work

When a movie’s title includes a comma, the first thing I think is, “What’s the big idea?” Other notable commas in the title include O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, Dude, Where’s My Car?, I, Tonya, and Good Morning, Vietnam. Looking at that list, if it was Good Luck to you, Leo Grande? it might be even more imposing. But as it stands, I really enjoyed Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, comma and all. With a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes right now, it seems I’m not the only one either.

The film opens on Nancy, played by dame Emma Thompson. You know she’s from, well…take your pick from her 95 acting credits. Love Actually if you’re in the UK and of a certain age, or perhaps Harry Potter, or Men in Black 3 and International, or Late Night, or maybe Cruella. Back to the film onscreen though. Nancy’s tidying up, adjusting her dress, and pulling the curtains closed in a tidy hotel room. She’s a woman in her…well we don’t ask a woman her age, so we don’t know for sure. Less than 82 and older than 40, as Nancy makes clear through her own line of questioning part-way through the film.

Next we see the titular character, Leo Grande himself, played by Daryl McCormack. You might recognize him from The Wheel of Time or Peaky Blinders, but never quite like this. He’s a good looking chap, late 20’s early 30’s, and he’s sitting in a coffee shop. Now he’s walking. But where’s he off to…

And we’re back in Nancy’s hotel room. A knock at the door. Could it be? Is it in fact Leo Grande, who we will be wishing good luck to soon? Not too soon. We need to strip things down first. But not that fast. In fact, the characters and film feel so real it makes you wonder if writer Katy Brand is retelling a story she overheard at the local watering hole. Not that she is, but the script and story have a genuine heart in them you don’t expect to see in a film about age, sexuality, and sex work. Aussie director Sophie Hyde takes the script and these two talented actors and brings the story to life onscreen.

Nancy’s post-marriage life has obviously become one of exploration. We as the audience are let into just a little piece of it, a slice of new life. Nancy has hired Leo Grande for his services as a sex worker. She’s never had an orgasm, and though that’s too lofty a goal for Nancy at the outset, she wants to have sex. Good sex. The best sex money can buy. And Leo? He’s the best money can buy. What Nancy has to confront as she stares into the mirror, before Leo arrives, with Leo as she nervously picks herself apart, and at the film’s conclusion is what each of us has to face every day. Can we see the beauty and accept the changes life has brought us and love it? Can we accept that love from another?

The movie feels at times like it was adapted from a stage play, but not so. The hotel room becomes a character at times, witness to the would-be-awkward confessions and personal questions. And nudity, there’s some nude Emma and Daryl throughout the film. Cheeks, nips, the whole lot of it. It is tasteful and feel’s incredibly honest seeing the chemistry in the acting onscreen. Nancy’s hesitations and walls she puts up are in contrast to her boldness in booking Leo in the first place. Leo is patient, he knows this type. But when he and Nancy get to know each other as they talk, we discover the hidden comfort in transactional physicality.

I’m a big fan of the push for sexual openness, discussions about norms and their shortcomings, honest looks at age and sexuality, and normalizing stories about sex work. This was right up my alley. Will it be right up yours? Find out.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande hits Hulu (USA) and cinemas (UK) on June 17th, so be sure to login or purchase your ticket and enjoy this funny, dramatic, delightful movie. And love yourself and others a little more when you’re done. Make love, not war. Make it often, and make it honestly.

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