The Lesson movie review

MOVIE TITLE: The Lesson

This psychological drama by Bleecker Street is now playing in select theaters.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 43 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

The story is about a young author who takes a tutoring position at the estate of a legendary writer.

The film was directed by Alice Troughton, and written by Alex MacKeith.

On a personal note, I’m an author of 31 books, so I’m always intrigued by movies about writers. I love seeing their process and what inspires them.

THINGS I LIKED:

The fantastic cast gives excellent performances and includes Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy, Daryl McCormack, and more.
Daryl McCormack is a fantastic, new and upcoming actor who has already been nominated for several awards! I hadn’t seen him in anything before Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. He was perfect in that movie, although the movie itself was shocking to me in its full nudity and sex. (Incredible performance by Emma Thompson, by the way.)
All of the characters appear to exist in a type of prison and are extremely flawed.
Fascinating and creative camera angles. The cinematography by Anna Patarkina is exceptional.
There’s a fun twist that you won’t see coming.
I was surprised to see a family of Capybura on the property of the estate. They’re native to South America, but this movie takes place in England.
What? There is a robotic lawn mower like a Roomba? Wow!
There are a lot of visual cues that show the emotional state of the characters.
The musical score is playful.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

It takes a while to get going.
It would have been clever to have the film divided into chapters, rather than parts because..you know…books.
It takes a while to get going.
Many of the decisions that are made by the characters made me cringe.