Good Luck to You Leo Grande is certainly a gerontological movie to watch. You can love it, you can hate it, but you will not stay indifferent to it.
This is a 2022 British drama, directed by Sophie Hyde and stars Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack.
The movie's plot is quite simple: Nancy (Emma Thompson) is a retired teacher and an aging widower, (she lost her husband two year ago). She sets a meeting with a young and sexy male sex-worker - Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), in a hotel room. As it turns out, Nancy - while enjoying a loving relationships with her husband for many years (and also having 2 children together) - never really enjoyed her sex-life, and never experienced an orgasm. Wishing to learn more about sex and enjoy her sexuality, she asks Leo to engage her with different sexual experiences. The plot develops slowly, while following three different meetings between Nancy and Leo in the same hotel room, The interactions and dialogues between Nancy and Leo - about sex, about parent-child relationships, about generational gaps, and about ageism and sexual stereotypes - become the essence of the movie.
Both Thompson and McCormack play beautifully. Specifically, Thompson is quite brave, having the audience view her fully naked, and experiencing first-hand the body of an aging woman.
This is certainly not a perfect movie: it touches on issues which many times are not discussed: sexuality in old age - in general; and sexuality of older women - in specific. Moreover, it allows a non-ageist perspective on older women, and a positive message to older women: it's never too late. It fits well with the notion of the emancipatory nature of old age: as a period of life which enables people to become free of social expectations and norms, setting free their personal wishes and preferences.
One can criticize the movie on different fronts: in some ways it portrays a very stereotypical picture of the British Baby-Boom generation (is this generation really so sexually conservative?); it describes sex-workers in super-ideal colors (is it really a "free choice" of young men who simply wish to make money?); and it totally down-plays the significance of family relationships.
However, overall, this is an excellent gerontological movie, which not only raises important social issues, but can also serve as a platform for significant discussions and debates.
Go see it.
2022
Director: Sophie Hyde
UK
Official Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJcbZoJFLTU