Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2021: #65. Sophie Hyde’s Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

Good Luck To You, Leo Grande

Australia’s Sophie Hyde embarks on her highest profile project with third feature Good Luck To You, Leo Grande, which also marks the first feature screenplay for Katy Brand. The project is set to be headlined by two-time Academy Award Winner Emma Thompson and produced by Debbie Gray of Genesius Pictures. Hyde’s first feature 52 Tuesdays won the Directing Award at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and the Crystal Bear in the Generation 14plus program at the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival. Her sophomore film Animals premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, starring Alia Shawkat and Holliday Grainger.

Gist: Nancy Stokes (Thompson) is a 55-year-old widow and ex-teacher who feels her stale but stable marriage robbed her of sexually invigorating experiences. To make up for lost time, she hires the services of the titular escort, or “sex therapist,” a man in his early twenties, for a night of sexual bliss.

Release Date/Prediction: Production is scheduled in London for early 2021, which means Hyde, whose previous two films premiered out of Sundance, would likely premiere in the more crowd-pleaser friendly programs of TIFF 2021 (and if not, look forward to this being a Sundance 2022 title).