The Lesson: The right balance of Playful, funny and suspenseful. ⭐⭐⭐

By Rob Ryan

The Lesson is a better version of the Coleen Hoover book Verity which yes I had the misfortune of reading. Like that book, the story is about writers and mostly takes place in one house throughout an unspecified amount of time. In both stories, there are secrets uncovered and a looming sense of something about to kick off in the third act. Where the former took itself too seriously without any inkling of self-awareness, The Lesson is not afraid to have fun with its self and its genre conventions, the dialogue is at times very funny without being too on the nose, the music waltzes constantly in a very whimsical fashion and who better to cast than Richard E Grant who knows how to play funny and serious at the same time seamlessly.

We start at the end with Liam (Dylan McCormack) who is on a book tour for his debut novel that has done wonders in the charts. When asked by an interviewer in front of a crowded audience what was the influence behind his work we cut back to months if not years prior where Liam is a struggling writer who one day accepts a teaching gig. This is not just any ordinary gig though, this is the son of his idol JM Sinclair (Grant) who is studying to go to Oxford and his dad and mother Helene (Julie Delpy) have big expectations of him, especially considering their other son Felix had committed suicide under the pressure of his dad and those big shoes to fill being raised by a Sinclair.

Liam at first has trouble adjusting to his new surroundings and the son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) has already sent the previous tutor's packing but a number of weeks later all seems well and Liam finds himself adjusting to his temporary home. Even better for him is when M.R. Sinclair tells him that he has written a new novel after a long hiatus and he wants him to proofread it, he accepts as long as he reads his novel in return which he has managed to finish during his time here.

That's where I will conclude the plot description as with any film the best way to view it is no as little about it as possible which is what I did with this one and it proved to be quite entertaining, All I will say is that nothing is all hunky dory in this house as JM treats his son coldly and his wife doesn't seem to be fond of him anymore. JM is the only lively face in the house and has seemingly taken the passing of his son very well, approaching every dinner conversation with an enthusiasm to play Schubert or Beethoven.

The screenplay by Alex MacKeith is written with a lot of references to writers new and old. But not just books, there's music, paintings, sculptures, (JM's wife is an art collector) and poetry. These are people who are defined by the books they read and study and ultimately "Steal" which JM makes a point in one of his talks, how there's no such thing as an original idea and the only well to tell a new story is to make another. While these references may enlist a response of "We Get it you read "Shakespeare" seeing the characters connect through their shared enthusiasm for the written word made them feel like people who have made art and how they digest it, critique it and connect with it part of their daily lives as opposed to having a bunch of references with no substance.

But the biggest selling point for me as mentioned earlier was the tone, I was surprised how much I smiled and chuckled at this film, not just the dialogue but moments such as the way Liam tries to work on his level with the same conviction as his idol. when writing and deciding to go to bed, he finds his idol from the widow on the other side of the house sitting back down and writing presumably his latest novel, something Liam has trouble committing due to his tiredness. The comedic tone gives the characters more opportunity to give off chemistry and play off with each other with variations in personality and banter as opposed to expressing the same tone in voice, conversation and personality over and over again.

Where the film flounders for me however in the third act. As I said the movie functions well as a fun, gothic one-location thriller with plenty of cheese and funny dialogue to get invested in but the last act was set up for something a bit more chaotic, something that more matched the somewhat comedic tone of the first and second act, but instead the conclusion ends up feeling like a whole lot of build up over a short-lived and easily resolved climax.

There are also a few areas of the plot that don't fully add up, one I can give as the rest involve spoilers is why does Liam has to stay with the Sinclairs when he spends less time teaching Bertie and more time bonding with JM over his latest novel? Surely this is an assignment that would require 3-hour daily visits at least, I personally wouldn't trust a stranger to live with me even if they were giving my child a good education. It just seems unnecessary and it's odd that Liam never once questions this decision.

Another small detail is when Delpy is playing Trikovsky on the piano, Liam walks up and says "That's Tarkovsky isn't it?" at first you would think he's offering his wide knowledge of art that isn't just limited to books until you cut to the shot of the piano front with sheet music on the top, and Trakovsky's name is written on the top, I was waiting for a joke how he only knew because it's written on the top but it was a missed opportunity to be a bit more self-aware with this script.

With that said, the film is a fun time if you like this kind of genre which I certainly do. The cast all play their parts to a T, the cinematography, direction lighting, are all just right, and I like that the tone wasn't completely overly serious and dreary throughout despite dealing with heavy topics. I like movies that know to have a sense of humour about itself without undermining the more dramatic elements of this kind of story and The Lesson has a good mix of both.

The Lesson is out in UK cinemas now.