The Lesson – Movie Review
Director: Alice Troughton
Writer: Alex MacKeith (Screenplay)
Cast
- Richard E Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
- Julie Delpy (Before Sunset)
- Daryl McCormack (Dungeons and Dragons)
- Stephen McMillan (Boiling Point)
- Crispin Letts (Skyfall)
Plot: A young author takes a tutoring position at the estate of a legendary writer.
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Lesson starts when aspiring young author Liam Somers (McCormack) gets a offers a job as an English tutor. It sees him getting to mentor the son Bertie (McMillan) of his icon J.M. Sinclair (Grant). With his being too hard of an opportunity to turn down, he accepts the role which includes living on the estate.
However, once Liam starts tutoring Bertie, he starts to see how distant Sinclair is from the world. Once he breaks down the barriers, he sees his opportunity to get closer to have his own novel looked at. However, Sinclair’s past comes out and now Liam must face a different world.
Verdict on The Lesson
The Lesson is a mystery thriller following the young author getting to work for his icon. However, he learns that you shouldn’t always meet your icons because they have secrets you might not be prepared for.
As I was going into this movie, I was expecting something like ‘The Ghost Writer’. The concept follows the lines of somebody entering a famous person, in this case, the author’s life to learn a dark secret. This works for the movie, as it gives a character a chance to learn from a master of the craft and shows what it can take out of someone. The movie offers up mystery about which way it will go and what is the dark secret being kept. We get great performances where everyone shines in their own ways throughout the film.
Final Thoughts – The Lesson is tense, mysterious and filled with wonderful performances.
