'The Lesson' Review: Richard E. Grant and Daryl McCormack Lead Turbulent Thriller
If there is a lesson of its own to take away from the thriller that is The Lesson, directed by Alice Troughton and written by Alex MacKeith, it is that less can often be more. Some of the most authentically tense films are those that rely on ratcheting up the tension and never overplaying its hand. Think of how Michael Haneke’s enduring 2005 film Caché just kept withholding much of its particulars which were integral to creating its sense of dread.
COLLIDER VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT There was ephemeral violence, yes, but it was tied to the more eternal terror that comes from observing lies slowly collapsing around people. When you then have talented actors to embody the characters who find themselves caught up in this more subtle descent into destruction, the experience that is crafted can be even more shattering than one built around spectacle.
This all begins with an author talk where we meet Liam Sommers being asked about a book with a particularly revealing story that he has written. It is an opening that is the first of a couple of different moments which, while never living up to this comparison, felt a bit reminiscent of last year’s titanically good TÁR.
Of course, this is merely the first course of what becomes a full melodramatic meal for Grant to sink his teeth into and chew up until there is not a morsel of the scenery he has not consumed. Just the leering look in his eyes or the echo of his laughter makes him more of a vulture than a man, willing to feast upon even his own family if it were to come to that.
The Ending of 'The Lesson' Nearly Loses the Plot All of this to say, without going too far into the particulars, it is a film that thrives in its uncertainty and falters when it ultimately arrives at a more concrete, cliché conclusion. It effectively flirts with being an erotic thriller without fully diving in and dances with more existential questions about the nature of authorship before dulling this intrigue with a rather blunt ending. Its cast all keep it afloat, but only just.
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