Netflix’s Lonely Planet offers a fresh spin on age-gap romance—Odette Parfitt shares her thoughts on why it works.
Lonely Planet (2024)
Platform: Netflix
Basic plot:
A successful writer goes to a retreat in Morocco to finish her book and meets a
younger man with whom she forms a surprising connection.
How it was probably pitched to the producers:
Let’s hop on the older-woman-younger-man-romance bandwagon, but without making a
thing of it.
Thoughts:
So, as you can possibly tell above, my favourite thing about this movie is that it normalises
older women dating younger men – this kind of movie is very trendy right now, but most
choose to highlight the age difference and the stigma around it, whereas Lonely Planet
doesn’t seem to think there’s anything out of the ordinary about it. A much stronger approach
in my book.
The movie has other plus points too:
The criminally-underrated Laura Dern is in it, it has a Hemsworth, and the location gives everything a bit of a beach-holiday-romance vibe that is pretty appealing.
The storyline isn’t overly complex, and some might argue a Hemsworth movie could be
hotter, but the narrative not-so-subtly shows that the leads are bonding intellectually first
(baby Hemsworth starts out the movie dating a girl when he clearly needs a woman).
There are other subplots, and at times the movie is a bit idealistic, but also, it’s never
marketed as more philosophical than it is – so really, if you were looking for deep and found
yourself disappointed, that’s kind of on you.
Bonus point:
Laura Dern spends 80% of the movie trying to get away from people so she
can just get some writing done, and honestly: same, boo.
Bottom line – is it worth the stream?
Yeah, why not? It’s the visual equivalent of a beach read, but it’s not going to offend anyone.
Watch this if you like:
- The idea of enjoying Woody Allen movies (but without actually enjoying Woody Allen
movies) - The Hemsworth clan
- A lot of talking
- Films that don’t actually require a lot of mental commitment
- Exclusively sandy backdrops
Leave a Reply