New Thing #3: The Lesson

The Lesson is one of those movies that, if you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen most of the movie, almost to the point that you might be better off conjuring up your own version of the film in your head rather than actually watching the movie.
The synopsis is: Liam, an aspiring and ambitious young writer, eagerly accepts a tutoring position at the family estate of his idol, renowned author JM Sinclair. But soon, Liam realizes that he is ensnared in a web of family secrets, resentment, and retribution.

Ultimately, this movie feels like it’s the stuffier, less horny, less over-the-top uncle of Saltburn. Both movies are pulp but Saltburn revels in its b-movie-ness and decides to just get bonkers whereas The Lesson tries to play it straight. I wasn’t a huge fan of Saltburn but this film made me appreciate its gonzo approach.

I don’t want to say the movie is bad but it’s just cold and feels, even at just 104 minutes, that it could be a lot tighter. My patience with movies has really crumbled over the last few years and I’ll admit that I failed to steer clear of the siren song of my cellphone more than a few times. I wish streaming services would launch some anthology series to give a home for stories that are probably best suited between 50 - 70 minutes - too long to be a short but too short to be a feature.