- Starring
- Mark Duplass, Natalie Morales, Desean Terry
- Writers
- Mark Duplass, Natalie Morales
- Director
- Natalie Morales
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 91 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s SXSW Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way films and television is produced in many ways as studios have had to adapt to these new circumstances. These new circumstances have also prompted creativity as a means to adapt to those circumstances to varying results. Though not explicitly mentioned, Language Lessons is a simple yet powerful film that made the most out of its circumstances thanks to a terrific script and and the chemistry of its two stars, Mark Duplass (a co-writer of the film) and Natalie Morales (the other co-writer and director of the film). Meanwhile, films revolving around computer screens have had varying degrees of success but what sets this film apart from the rest was its story that pulled the viewers in with such a compelling story and characters that made it easy to forget that the film was essentially a series of zoom calls between two characters.
Language Lessons follows a man named Adam (Duplass) whose husband Will (Terry) hired a Spanish teacher named Cariño (Morales) to give him Spanish lessons. Getting off to an awkward start, little did they know that their relationship would evolve into something that was much more than mere Spanish lessons though there were a few of those here. A personal tragedy dramatically changed their dynamic as their lessons became more like therapy sessions as they became closer to one another. The line blurred as Adam opened up more and more to Cariño who wasn’t ready to open up to anyone about her own issues. She had to balance between her need to bond with that of keeping a professional relationship with one her students. Nevertheless, as the film went on, audiences learned more and more about the latter. Despite the inevitable ending, that journey was more than worth it thanks to Duplass and Morales who were sensational.
Overall, these Language Lessons are ones worth taking.
still courtesy of Duplass Brothers Productions
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.