'Good Luck to you Leo Grande' is a comedy drama that follows Nancy, a 55 year old widow as she explores her repressed sexual desires through a number of encounters with a sex worker, Leo.
The film is almost entirely confined to the hotel room in which the two meet, recounting their four meetings over the course of a month. The film opens on their first meeting, with Nancy visibly conflicted about her decision to hire a sex worker, yet Leo puts her at ease by sharing. Nancy reveals that her husband, who had passed away 2 years ago was her only sexual partner, ad she has never experienced an orgasm. She also tells Leo about her adult children, whom she is somewhat disappointed in, and her career as a religious education teacher. Leo reciprocates by telling Nancy about his mother, who he has told that he works on an oil rig, yet denotes that he is not ashamed of the work he does, believing it to be an essential service.
Nancy hires Leo for a second time, having been satisfied with the experience despite not achieving an orgasm. She comes prepared with a list of sexual activities she wants to experience, starting with a blowjob. Nancy is however anxious, and Leo suggests arranging more sessions, so Nancy doesn’t feel pressured to complete her list in one night. Offended by this, Nancy suggests Leo is just trying to make more money off of her. The two talk and Leo explains that he gets genuine pleasure from being able to satisfy his customers, no matter what their preferences may be. Noticing Leo is aroused by this in turn arouses Nancy and she performs oral sex on him.
During their third meeting Leo performs oral sex on Nancy, yet she does not orgasm. Prying for more details about his personal life, Nancy admits to cyber-stalking him, which upsets Leo, with him noting that he is there to provide a fantasy. Visibly angered, Leo tells Nancy not to book him again and storms out. He returns as he has forgotten his phone, and before he can find it, Leo reveals that his mother disowned him out of disgust for who he was, telling people he is dead.
Nancy books Leo for a fourth time and meets with him in the hotel cafe, to be able to apologise and say goodbye. She owns up to her wrongdoings and reveals her name – Susan Robinson. She thanks Leo for his service, for helping her regain her confidence and for her sexual awakening, also noting she has recommended him to a few friends in her circle who would benefit from his services. Leo in turn reveals the reason his mother disowned him, being that she found him having group sex with his friends when he was fifteen. Still not acknowledging him, Leo has focused on re-establishing a relationship with his brother, telling him what he does for a living.
Their waitress, Becky, turns out to be a former student of Susan’s, who recounts a time when she chastised her and her friends to school for wearing short skirts, calling them ‘sluts’. Nancy feels ashamed and apologises for her judgemental attitude and the incident, also revealing that she is there with Leo as a sex worker, suggesting his services to Becky as well. Susan then invites Leo for a final session up in their hotel room, where they complete Susan’s list of sexual activities. Despite not orgasming, Leo believes he could make use of a sex toy to achieve that goal. Whilst looking for the toy, Susan looks at Leo waking around naked and masturbates, giving herself her first orgasm. After their session, Susan thanks Leo for his time and that she won’t be needing him any more. Alone in the hotel room, Susan stands naked before a mirror, admiring her won body.
‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ is a comedy drama that takes an intimate look at the sexual awakening of a repressed woman whilst also maintaining an open and frank discussion about sex work. The film maintains a mostly promiscuous and light-hearted look at sex whilst also delivering a number of heartfelt discussions about regret of unfulfilled sexual desires and the stigma attached to sex work.
The film explores Nancy/Susan’s mundane past sexual exploits through her reminiscing about having an unbroken streak of monotonous sexual encounters with her husband, denoting the almost harmful effects this has had on her confidence and having slowly taken away the woman’s ability to feel confident about herself and the joy she could have derived from a more open and adventurous partner. The movie goes a step further and shows the effects of her past 31 years of a non-fulfilled intimate relationship with her husband, as having taken away from her personality, restricting and repressing her self-esteem, which in turn may have bled into her professional life as she had chastised some of her students, as she perceived them to be over-sexualized in a way.
Nancy/Susan’s encounters with Leo in turn have re-awakened the woman’s ability to find joy through sex and has given her the chance to re-discover herself, steering the conversation towards the positive effects of the services Leo provides as an essential service for people to gain satisfaction through a consensual interaction, where no matter the fantasy one may have, is satisfied and the individual is thereby less frustrated and can lead a much more fulfilled life.
Paralleling Nancy/Susan’s experience, Leo finds the strength to open up to his brother about the work he does. The film is clear in stating that Leo is not ashamed of his work, yet their shared experience goes towards him gaining confidence into opening up about it to his sibling. Moreover, the film takes a strong stance in support of safe and regulated sex-work, denoting the view people currently have on it and the stigma attached to it. Stating that the work should be treated as a service and promoting the regulation of it is something that has been talked about for a long time, as the political and personal views of the public should shift towards the regulation of such work, ensuring the safety of everyone involved and de-stigmatizing the practice.
The film is carried entirely by Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack as Nancy and Leo respectively, with the duo instilling a very real sense of intimacy between the two as they get to know each other and they are able to open up to each other sexually and personally. Even though we know Leo is providing a service for money, he never makes the experience feel cheap, delivering a deeply personalized experience to allow Nancy to live her fantasy and walk away satisfied.
‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ is an endearing and heartfelt discussion about sexuality, repression, shame and ultimately awakening, showing the viewers the way sex work can have a positive effect on someone’s life, removing associations of disgrace and shame the work has attached to it. With a strong performance from its two leads, the film is a thoughtful and welcome exploration sex and the industry, inviting its viewers to consider the benefits therein and ultimately the acceptance of sex work.
Score: 3/4
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