Movie Review: The Lesson

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A very tense and gripping thriller and an all-around great movie. 

Director Alice Troughton (in what is amazingly her first feature film (though she has done quite a bit of work in TV shows)) and writer Alex MacKeith (in what is also his first feature film) take what could be a very basic story and turn it into a fantastic work of suspense. The simple premise involves a young aspiring writer becoming the tutor for his favorite author's son. With this he forms a complex relationship with his ego driven hero. From here the film takes many twists and turns often leaving you wondering what is going to happen next. However unlike many suspense movies little of what happens is external. Instead for the majority of the movie the suspense takes place within the characters' heads and deals with their egos and the various mind games they can play on each other. What becomes the most gripping part of the movie is not what the characters are doing but trying to figure out what is going through their minds as they do even the smallest things. The film itself unfolds at a slow and leisurely pace. At first it might seem like it will be a little boring but as we continue watching we become ensnared in the dark web this movie is weaving. Despite the many twists and turns here, all of them have been perfectly set up by the earlier scenes and as we continue to watch we become aware of how even seemingly minor scenes, perfectly lead to important plot points here. Even as the film can move by slowly, there is not a moment wasted here and it eventually becomes just as captivating (if not more so) than many of the faster paced and bigger scale blockbusters that come out of Hollywood. The cast in this movie is very small, focusing on a small group of characters and their relationships with one another. While few of these characters are traditionally likable, they are all fascinating to watch. This is in no doubt in major part because of the incredible performances of the actors playing the four main characters (Richard E. Grant, Julie Delpy, Daryl McCormack, Stephen McMillan). All of them simply command the screen and add a lot of depth and humanity to them simply through their performances.

This is simply a must see movie.