Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

A retired schoolteacher hires a young sex worker in Sophie Hyde's tender two-hander, anchored by a fearless Emma Thompson.

Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) is a retired schoolteacher, recently widowed, who has always played it safe. Seeking to reclaim her body and desire, she hires Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), a young sex worker. Over a series of meetings in a hotel room, what starts as a transaction turns into honest conversation about shame, intimacy and self-acceptance.

Curator’s Note
Emma Thompson gives a generous, candid performance as Nancy, allowing awkwardness, humour and vulnerability to sit alongside her growing confidence. Rather than presenting Nancy as simply liberated, Thompson allows her contradictions and insecurities to remain visible as she begins to question the limits she has placed on herself.

Sophie Hyde brings the candid, character-led approach seen across her work, including 52 Tuesdays, Animals and Jimpa. Her intimate, observational direction gives Thompson and Daryl McCormack space to carry the film through conversation, silence and small shifts in their relationship. In centring an older woman’s sexuality and desire, Leo Grande connects with Thompson’s advocacy for greater representation of older women on-screen. The film premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, and went on to be nominated for Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards.