Miss Flicks

The Lesson: Film Review

If you fancy a slow-burning noir that keeps you guessing, The Lesson might be for you.

The British drama, directed by Alice Troughton, tells the story of aspiring novelist Liam Somers (Daryl McCormack), who accepts a tutoring position on the estate of his idol, esteemed author J.M. Sinclair (Richard E. Grant). He is tasked with helping the legendary writer’s son Bertie (Stephen McMillan) pass an English literature exam to get into Oxford University. Sounds simple, right? Well, Liam soon realises that the family is hiding a dark secret.

McCormack’s Liam serves as the audience’s eyes into the Sinclair family’s world. They are rich and flaunt their wealth, intelligence and taste for highbrow music and art. Liam is a working-class writer supplementing his income with tutoring. But Liam’s class has no bearing on his writing and being unpublished doesn’t mean he’s not talented. Sinclair, on the other hand, is a famous established author but he has been struggling for a long time with his latest book. This relationship makes for an intriguing power play where you’re never too sure who has the upper hand.

The Lesson is technically a film noir but it doesn’t much look like one. It eschews the hallmarks – the setting is a sun-drenched estate instead of a dark city and it modernises the role of the femme fatale figure, fulfilled here by Julie Delpy as Sinclair’s enigmatic wife Hélène.

While always compelling and intriguing, the film is admittedly too slow to get going. Yes, it’s supposed to be a slow-burning thriller but there’s only so much snail pace you can take! The twists and turns were unpredictable and shocking but they weren’t always maximised to their full potential. The conclusion was pretty convincing but I couldn’t help feeling like something was missing – it didn’t quite do enough and needed a bit more. It didn’t fully hit the spot in terms of excitement or thrills.

However, the main three cast members were terrific and worked really well together, I genuinely didn’t guess the twists and turns, and the visuals were gorgeous.

In cinemas from Friday 22nd September