This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.
For those struggling writers out there, here’s a tip. If you find yourself struggling to come up with a compelling villain for your story, just go with rigid condescending rich people. That’s The Lesson Daryl McCormack has to learn in this movie. Why would anyone agree to sit down to dinners with people like this? Not in a million years for me, no matter how good the food is.
Famous novelist JM Sinclair (Richard E. Grant) and his wife Helene (Julie Delpy) need a tutor for their son Bertie (Stephen McMillan). They bring in Liam Sommers (Daryl McCormack) a gifted literary historian and aspiring writer, who reveres JM. Helene warns Liam that he’s there for Bertie alone, but Liam’s curiosity and JM’s latest novel get the better of all parties involved.
Icy European villains for the win. The Lesson couldn’t have cast better with Richard E. Grant and Julie Delpy. We get both sides of the erudite villainy here that Liam has to deal with. Grant’s JM Sinclair is one of those classic smarmy “I’m better than you, and I know it” aholes high on his own supply. His chilly verbal slashing of everyone around him so he can “win” brings a cruel joy to the audience, as I heard some gasps at the casual nature of Grant’s cuts. As cruel as JM Sinclair is to Daryl McCormack’s Liam, Julie Delpy’s Helene is much more menacing. With a “f*ck you” stare for the ages, Helene makes Liam feel as tiny as a mouse if she wants to. Or, she brings him in closer by convincing him she’s trapped in an unfulfilling marriage, learning more about this new person that she might be able to use at a later time. Grant and Delpy also do a great job layering their performances, so the more we learn about each of them we understand the characters to be more than the facades they put on for show.
And then there’s Daryl McCormack, trapped in the viper’s nest. The more I see of him, the more I like. McCormack plays Liam initially like a wide eyed innocent surrounded by people intent on proving they are the smartest person in the room. The guy is great at playing coy, but underneath holding a wealth of thought and feelings. He talks second and listens, trying to figure out the dynamics of this insane dysfunctional family he’s found himself involved with. The more he learns, the more confident he becomes in his assessments of these people, and how to manipulate them, for good or bad. It’s a complex performance McCormack aces verbally and nonverbally, as the audience follows him deeper and deeper into the erudite lion’s den.
Julie Delpy, Richard E. Grant, and Daryl McCormack. Hollywood, The Lesson you should take away here is to cast these people in your movies, cause they’re only going to make them better with their presence. Especially Julie Delpy, forever and ever my queen, whether it be before sunrise, sunset, or midnight.