The Lesson

It's a psychological drama set in modern times on an Irish estate owned by a famous novelist and his family. It follows the experiences of a tutor hired to help the younger son prepare for university interviews.

J. M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant) is an honored and successful novelist who has not released new work for five or more years. He is married to Hélène (Julie Delpy), who sells art. Their older son, Felix (Joseph Meurer), committed suicide two years earlier. The younger son, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), has gone through several tutors. Liam Somers (Daryl McCormack) is a graduate student who has extensively studied Sinclair's literary work and worked on his own first novel for several years.

Liam soon discovers the Sinclair family estate holds a lot of eccentricity and tension within its walls. He is periodically invited to join the family the dinner and develops a decent relationship with Bertie. Hélène seems protective of both J. M. and Bertie, but with an aloof edge. Any mention of Felix is forbidden, and the nearby pond where Felix died is off-limits. Liam's bedroom window allows him to observe much, and J. M. soon requires Liam's computer skills as he tries to complete his new novel. Liam's photographic memory also comes in handy.

Suddenly, everything goes off the rails as we learn more about Felix's death and the reasons for Sinclair's writer's block.

I found "The Lesson" an engaging mystery. Grant is a great arrogant novelist, and Delpy is a delicious conniving matriarch. McCormack is also convincing. The plot unfolded nicely until the very end when I thought it took an unrealistic turn. Nonetheless, I liked "The Lesson." The pacing and cinematography were good.

This movie is a seven. Oddly enough, with better writing, maybe a stronger plot with the right twists and turns, this could've easily been a nine maybe even a rock solid ten.

The performances here are some of the very best of 2023.

Richard E. Grant. Has he been knighted yet? He needs to be. I have never seen him give less than one hundred percent in every role he's ever occupied. Even Spice World. Yup. Spice World. The last film that I saw him in, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, he was spectacular. In The Lesson, he again ascends to great heights. He shows the depth, maturity and wisdom to play a highly-respected author of contemporary English literature.

His gorgeous wife, played by the elegant Julie Delpy.

Delpy in Killing Zoe was a career defining and most memorable performance.

Not surprisingly In The Lesson, she is the petrol to the fire.

She and her husband, the brilliant writer share a massive and secluded home on a beautiful, rolling, presumably English (though it's Germany - I looked into it) country side.

They live with their youngest, university-bound son, Bertie, who is currently prepping for his college admissions.

Bertie is played by Stephen McMillan, and he is maybe the biggest, brightest star of the entire film.

Bertie lives in the cold shadows of his famous father and his recently deceased older brother. The only real warmth he receives is from his mother.

And so she has hired a tutor to assist in this lengthy and intense college admissions process.

The tutor, an aspiring writer with great admiration for the work of Grant's character and his process towards the craft. He's played by Daryl McCormack. A solid portrayal by a solid up and coming talent who has snagged a part in the upcoming 2024 sequel to Twister, Twisters.

And off we go!

Tutor and tutee grinding away on the reading, writing and interviewing aspects of the admissions process.

Deliciously presented dinners with the family by candlelight. Wining and dining. Rachmaninoff playing gently in the background.

The estate is breathtaking. Monet's Giverny it seems. Study sessions out in the fresh air off the garden.

Who wouldn't want this gig?

We soon find out, somewhat mysteriously, many.

Beware jobs with a high turnover rate.

Questions start to surface.

What exactly happened to the older brother, Felix?

And what happens to all of the tutors?

This is where the story should've really blasted off.

But it doesn't.

Punches are pulled.

It gives in and makes it easy.

This movie gets a seven because of all the incredible performances from all of the ensemble.

All of them.

Richard E. Grant is his generation's Ian McKellen.

It's true.

And one of King Charles' first acts should be to knight this fine actor.

This movie isn't a thriller, so don't go in expecting big twists or action; it's a quiet, slow-paced drama with a mysterious edge. Some are rating the movie low because the mystery isn't hard to figure out, but I feel like that is not the point. The movie is meant to be a commentary on grief, ego, and control. It's not so much "what happens" but more "why" and "how" it unfolds.

The setting is absolutely beautiful: a big manor by a lake, surrounded by greenery. Calm but eerie atmosphere. Acting is top notch, everyone is great, they really managed to get a great cast. The writing is smart, with lots of foreshadowing, symbolism, and literary references and devices that fit the movie's theme.

That said, I wouldn't give it a perfect score. The slow pacing is not for me, and a few character decisions felt off or hard to believe. It's not a movie I'd probably rewatch, but I was definitely intrigued the whole time and impressed by the actors' performances.

THE LESSON is a terrible title for an excellent film. It's an economically made film. It utilizes a small cast with only a handful of speaking roles. There are only two locales-a country estate (about 95% of the time) and a TV studio (the other 5%). The soundtrack orchestra is composed of only a few instruments. But it nonetheless comes off as rather classy. The situation is that a revered writer and his wife hire a tutor for their son whom they feel MUST be accepted by a prestigious college. The couple are both domineering. When they speak, it's an order. Their son is brilliant, but an emotional mess. The tutor is a handsome and articulate young man of mixed-race, who comes with sterling credentials (and is also an aspiring writer). The tutor lives in the house and sees a lot more than he would like to of the couple's private life. It turns out that a tragic event happened in this family five years earlier. What really happened and why? Gradually, one begins to see the complex web of relationships among the characters. Whose point-of-view should the viewer believe? This is an intelligent and challenging script, at times evocative of Tom Stoppard or Harold Pinter. The screenwriter, Alex MacKeith, is the real star of this movie. The cast are all fine, but I was a big Richard E. Grant fan to start with. He does not disappoint. Where I think the film falls short is in the pacing. It's a little flat. Every scene is played at the same level at the same pace. It could have used some peaks and valleys. It looks gorgeous though, with great art decoration and cinematography. Isobel Weller Bridge's musical score is just right.

The movie also has a lot of ideas about writing and writers. As Richard E. Grant's character says, "Good writers borrow; Great writers steal." There's a lot to this movie, but I don't want to spoil anything in this review. It would make a great double-bill with the documentary UMBERTO ECO-A LIBRARY OF THE WORLD. If you like Harold Pinter and Tom Stoppard, you would probably enjoy this movie.

About 30 minutes into 'The Lesson' I had to look up its IMDb page to make sure I hadn't misread it being a thriller. It was off to a very slow start. That isn't to say I wasn't enjoying it, just that there was going to have to be a notable tone shift in order for that to be the case. And there was, but the whole time it felt like this movie was struggling to get out of first gear.

The film has a good cast and some decent dialogue and the story has 'potential' (for lack of a better term). It's just that everything feels a little half-baked. It never commits to anything. It isn't willing to pull the trigger and dare to be something great and memorable. The film reminded me a lot of 'Saltburn' (also starring Richard E. Grant in the father role funny enough), only a light version of that movie.

I really wanted to like this movie more. And I should be clear that I didn't dislike the movie by any means, I just felt that it could've been more than it ultimately was. 6/10.