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The Lesson | 2023 | R | – 5.4.6
Why is “The Lesson” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “language and some sexual content.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes an implied sex scene with partial nudity, two implied oral sex scenes, many arguments and scenes of people being belittled, discussions of a suicide, discussions of success and expectations, and 14 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
When a young man (Daryl McCormack) thinks he has landed his dream job tutoring the son of his favorite writer (Richard E. Grant), he is not prepared for the drama he will encounter, and the closely held family secrets he will uncover. Also with Julie Delpy, Stephen McMillan, Crispin Letts and Tomas Spencer. Directed by Alice Troughton. [Running Time: 1:42]
The Lesson SEX/NUDITY 5
– A young man and a woman drink wine together, they look at a painting after unwrapping it and the young man kisses the woman, they hold each other and are later shown nude (we see the young man’s bare back, buttocks and legs and the woman’s bare leg and shoulder) caressing each other while lying on a bed (sex is implied). A young man watches through a window as a woman is seated on a man’s desk, she raises her negligee skirt (we see cleavage and her bare leg to the upper thigh) as the man places his head between her legs and she leans back and breathes heavily (oral sex implied); this happens in two scenes.
► A teen boy leans toward a young man seated on a bench seeming to want to kiss him, and they touch their heads together. A husband kisses his wife on the cheek in a couple of scenes.
► A young man makes a suggestive remark to a man about the man’s wife, implying infidelity (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).
► A teen boy wearing swim trunks jumps into a lake (we see his bare chest, abdomen and back). A young man comes out of the shower wearing a towel wrapped around his waist (we see his bare back and shoulders). A young man riding a bicycle stops at the side of a road, undresses (we see his bare chest, abdomen, back and legs and he wears knee length boxer briefs) and swims in a lake.
The Lesson VIOLENCE/GORE 4
– A man allows himself to sink underwater in a lake and his shape disappears implying that he drowns; we later see his body on the side of the lake and a man leans over him to check for life signs.
► A young man makes a suggestive remark to a man about the man’s wife, implying infidelity and the man lunges toward the young man, they wrestle in a lake and the young man is held underwater while thrashing and falls still; he then punches the man in the face and swims to the side to get out of the water, the man grabs his feet and the young man kicks him in the face and gets away.
► A woman in a movie takes a gun out of her purse and shoots another woman (we see her fall to the ground and her hand falls limp without evident blood).
► A teen boy cries and tears up papers after his father yells at him. A young man tears pages of his writing from a book and throws them into a lake. A document is deleted from a man’s computer and the printed document is taken from his car causing him to fly into a rage and accuse his teen son of stealing it; he shakes the teen’s chair and yells at him. A man breaks a vase that his wife made and she becomes upset and leaves the room. A man and a woman become sad when a young man wears their dead son’s clothing.
► A man yells at his teen son about not having read important works and declares that there is no way he’ll get into Oxford University; he asks him if he is illiterate. A teen boy is abrasive and dismissive of his tutor in several scenes. A man yells from behind his closed office door. A husband calls his wife, “the missing mother,” and she says he does so because she was away when her son died. A man angrily answers a question posed by an interviewer and storms out of the room. A man becomes abusive when a young man gives him suggestions about his writing; he tells the young man, “You cannot write.” A young man tells a man, “You crushed him.” A teen boy tells a young man that his father made them sick, he says, “Not caring is worse than cruelty.” A man tells a young man to never swim in a lake on his property again; he says, “It’s off limits.” A man says, “Great writers steal.” We hear that a teen boy is preparing for Oxford University entrance exams and interviews. A young man says that words are like triggers for him and that he can remember things that he reads. A man tells a young man, “We’ll make a thief of you yet.” A teen boy talks about Rhododendron plants being poisonous and that the sap contains toxins.
► Bouquets of flowers droop, turn brown and drop pedals over time.
The Lesson LANGUAGE 6
– About 14 F-words, 1 scatological term, 3 mild obscenities, name-calling (illiterate, dumb, the missing mother, proofreader, careless, depressive, weak, stupid, coward, obsessive fan, bastard), exclamations (sins of the father, no no …, diners keepers), 1 religious exclamation (e.g. Jesus). | profanity glossary |
The Lesson SUBSTANCE USE
– A woman offers a young man a beer, several people drink wine with meals in a few scenes, a man drinks whiskey in several scenes, and a man and a young man share two bottles of champagne and appear inebriated. A young man smokes cigarettes in several scenes, a teen boy smokes cigarettes in several scenes, and a woman and a young man smoke cigarettes together.
The Lesson DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Grief, death of a child, suicide, competing for, success, parenting, veganism, expectations, insecurity, spontaneity, favoritism, sacrifice, guilt, parental pressure to succeed, injustice, isolation.
The Lesson MESSAGE
– Writing is a demanding and stressful profession that can drive some to extreme lengths in order to find success.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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