Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022) Best Movie Quotes

Starring: Emma Thompson, Daryl McCormack, Isabella Laughland

OUR RATING: ★★★½

Story:

Comedy drama directed by Sophie Hyde. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022) follows retired teacher Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson), who is seeking romance and excitement after a boring marriage, and hires good-looking young sex worker, Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack), in the hope of enjoying a night of pleasure and self-discovery. As Nancy embarks on a post-marital sexual awakening and Leo draws on his skills and charm, together they find a surprising human connection.

Our Favorite Quotes:

'Pleasure is a wonderful thing. It's something we should all have.' - Nancy Stokes (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) Share on X

Best Quotes

Nancy Stokes: [referring to her perfume] Coco Chanel. Nigella Lawson wears it.
Leo Grande: Ah, Nigella. So sexy. Don’t you agree?
Nancy Stokes: Yes. No, I was waiting for you to say, “For her age.” Most people say, when a woman’s over about forty-two, that she’s sexy “for her age”. I was waiting for that.
Leo Grande: Ah, right. No, Nigella Lawson is empirically sexy, at any age.

Leo Grande: Hey, Nancy?
Nancy Stokes: Yes?
Leo Grande: We’re going to have a great time.
Nancy Stokes: Okay.

Nancy Stokes: Sorry, I’m a bit distracted, because up close you really are very good looking.
Leo Grande: Thank you.
Nancy Stokes: Even more than in your photo.
Leo Grande: Ah, I’m better in 3D.

Leo Grande: There’s nothing crass about getting paid for your work, Nancy, trust me on that.

Nancy Stokes: [referring to his job] Do you enjoy it?
Leo Grande: You know what? I love it, Nancy. Meeting all kinds of people. Getting up to all sorts of things, mutual pleasure.
Nancy Stokes: You don’t feel demeaned then?
Leo Grande: Not at all.
Nancy Stokes: Or degraded?
Leo Grande: No.

Leo Grande: So, what is your fantasy?
Nancy Stokes: I’m not sure you could really class it as a fantasy as such. It’s a bit mundane for that.
Leo Grande: Okay. Well, what would you most desire? I mean, desires are never mundane.
Nancy Stokes: To have sex tonight with you. That’s about it really, for the moment.

Nancy Stokes: I’m just not very good at waiting for things to happen. I’m much better when they’ve happened and I’m recovering.
Leo Grande: You make it sound like it’s an ordeal. It’s not compulsory.

Nancy Stokes: I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve never bought anybody like this for my own…
Leo Grande: Pleasure.
Nancy Stokes: Use.

Leo Grande: Nancy, listen to me. I choose to do this. You know, you haven’t bought me. You’ve bought my service. I set a price and you agreed. I’m not being exploited.

Nancy Stokes: I can’t bear the suspense. I can’t bear it.
Leo Grande: The anticipation?
Nancy Stokes: Yes, of disappointment.
Leo Grande: Why do you assume you’ll be disappointed?
Nancy Stokes: Because I’ve always been disappointed before.

'We're all stuck with whatever we get, aren't we? Parents and children alike.' - Nancy Stokes (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) Share on X

Nancy Stokes: [to Leo] Your confidence is endearing, and no doubt necessary to the job, but I feel I must warn you it is misplaced. And I don’t want you to feel bad about it, because I won’t be faking it. I don’t do that. Not anymore.

Nancy Stokes: In fact, if we do this, you will only be the second man I have ever had sex with in my entire life. There, I said it.
Leo Grande: Well, thank you for telling me.
Nancy Stokes: If you want to leave now, I’m very happy to pay half of what we agreed.
Leo Grande: I don’t want to leave, Nancy. Nothing is making me want to leave. I won’t leave unless I’m clearly instructed to, or I feel I’m in physical danger.

Nancy Stokes: It’s all quite an education.
Leo Grande: I hope it continues.
Nancy Stokes: You’re being saucy.
Leo Grande: “Saucy”? My grandmother used to say the word “saucy”.
Nancy Stokes: I’d rather not think about your grandmother right now if you don’t mind.

Nancy Stokes: It’s just not very “me”, I’m a teacher. Well, I was a teacher. I used to set my pupils essays on the moral issues surrounding sex work, and here I am participating in it.

Nancy Stokes: Well, then I simply don’t understand it.
Leo Grande: You don’t understand what?
Nancy Stokes: Why you’re doing this.
Leo Grande: Oh. Oh, well, if you really want to know, I’m using the money I make doing this to save up for college.
Nancy Stokes: Oh. Oh, how wonderful. Are you really?
Leo Grande: No.

Leo Grande: I don’t need any little blue pills.
Nancy Stokes: Never?
Leo Grande: Never.
Nancy Stokes: But what if you don’t fancy the person? I mean, you can’t force yourself, surely, if you don’t.
Leo Grande: There’s always something to fancy.
Nancy Stokes: No, there isn’t.
Leo Grande: There is.

Nancy Stokes: What’s the oldest person you’ve ever done it with?
Leo Grande: That’s a bit reductive, Nancy.
Nancy Stokes: “Reductive”, that’s a good word. I like it.
Leo Grande: Yes, it is a good word. I’m glad you like it. I chose it just for you.

'Achievable goals. That's the path to happiness. There's no point in wishing for the moon.' - Nancy Stokes (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) Share on X

Nancy Stokes: [after Leo’s revealed the oldest person he’s slept with] Eighty-two!
Leo Grande: Yeah.
Nancy Stokes: Eighty-two.
Leo Grande: Nancy.
Nancy Stokes: Okay, I’m feeling a bit better now.

Leo Grande: Do you not find me attractive?
Nancy Stokes: Don’t be ridiculous. You’re clearly aesthetically perfect, and apparently nice enough.
Leo Grande: What did you picture happening? I mean, why did you book me if you don’t want to do it?
Nancy Stokes: I don’t know at this point. A moment of madness, that’s all. That’s all.

Leo Grande: I bet you thought about it for days before.
Nancy Stokes: Weeks. Well, months. Years, perhaps.
Leo Grande: Well, then it’s not a moment of madness. This is what you want, Nancy. And now that you have it, why won’t you take it? Why won’t you take what you want, when it’s right here, within reach.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, I don’t know. It feels controversial suddenly.
Leo Grande: I don’t find it controversial.
Nancy Stokes: To want something like this. Even to want it.

Nancy Stokes: I don’t want an old man. I want a young one. A young body. And no offence, I have to pay for that. Of course I do.
Leo Grande: Well, I’m here. And I’m not offended.

Nancy Stokes: Why are you still here?
Leo Grande: I’m interested.
Nancy Stokes: In what?
Leo Grande: In you.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, for Heaven’s sakes, no need to patronise me.
Leo Grande: I’m not. You’re conflicted. Conflicted is interesting.

Nancy Stokes: You’ve never met a woman who can’t make up her mind before? I don’t believe that.
Leo Grande: I’ve met women who can’t decide which sandwich to have for lunch. But if we’ve ended up in a bedroom together, they usually know what they want at that point.
Nancy Stokes: Well, young women are different.
Leo Grande: Yes, I think they are.

'It's very stressful being a parent. It's a stress that never leaves you. It's like a thumb on a bruise.' - Nancy Stokes (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) Share on X

Nancy Stokes: I’m just curious about what it’s like for you. I mean, you’re clearly very bright.
Leo Grande: What makes you say that?
Nancy Stokes: Well, I’m a teacher, and I know there are some people who use the word “empirically” in a conversation, and there are very many who don’t. And the clever ones are those that do.

Nancy Stokes: I’ve never said this to anyone before, this is awful.
Leo Grande: It’s okay. Who am I going to tell? Come on.
Nancy Stokes: Well, the truth is I find him boring.
Leo Grande: You find your own son boring?
Nancy Stokes: Yes. That’s awful, isn’t it?
Leo Grande: I’ve just never heard anyone say that before.

Nancy Stokes: [referring to her daughter] She lives in Barcelona, in this bohemian set-up. They’re all artists, although I’ve never seen any actual art. Unless the art consists of burning your parents money, which, actually, it’s not out of the question.
Leo Grande: At least she’s not boring.
Nancy Stokes: No. No. There is that. There is that.

Leo Grande: I’m in awe of anyone who becomes a mother. It’s the hardest job in the world.
Nancy Stokes: Did you get that off Mumsnet or something?
Leo Grande: Sorry?
Nancy Stokes: It’s a bit general. Not all mothers are good.
Leo Grande: Well, I wouldn’t know. I’ve only had one.
Nancy Stokes: Yeah, we’re all stuck with whatever we get, aren’t we? Parents and children alike.

Nancy Stokes: I think I may have killed the mood.
Leo Grande: I’m not sure there was a mood. I’m sorry, that was rude of me.
Nancy Stokes: No, it’s true.
Leo Grande: No, but you’re not paying for the truth though. You’re paying for a fantasy.
Nancy Stokes: At this moment, I’m not sure what I’m paying for.
Leo Grande: I can show you.
Nancy Stokes: I don’t doubt it.

Leo Grande: [after Nancy reveals her husband only performed missionary sex] And that’s the only sex you’ve ever had?
Nancy Stokes: Correct.
Leo Grande: Wow.
Nancy Stokes: “Wow” indeed.

Nancy Stokes: So I’ve made a list of things that I’d like to get through.
Leo Grande: Oh, that sounds sexy.
Nancy Stokes: Don’t mock me. I’m a teacher. Old habits die hard.
Leo Grande: What’s first in the list?
Nancy Stokes: Number one, I perform oral sex on you. Number two, you perform oral sex on me. Number three, we do a sixty-nine, if that’s what it’s still called, I don’t know. Four, me on top. Five, doggy style.
Leo Grande: Well, that all sounds very achievable.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, does it? Oh, good. Good. Because I have no frame of reference. I’ve tried looking on the Internet, but it’s alarming, frankly. I mean, if you type in “classy po*n” to Google up pop twelve windows of erections. I mean, there’s no build-up at all. Have I booked enough time?
Leo Grande: You want to do it all today?
Nancy Stokes: Yes, if possible.

'It's not vain to enjoy your body. To love it.' - Leo Grande (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) Share on X

Leo Grande: Isn’t there something else that should be on that list?
Nancy Stokes: Like what?
Leo Grande: Well, I’d love for you to feel completely satisfied, if at all possible.
Nancy Stokes: Oh. Oh. The big “o”, in fact. Yes. No, I like a list that can be fully ticked-off. Achievable goals. That’s the path to happiness. There’s no point in wishing for the moon.
Leo Grande: Well, it’s an orgasm, you know. It’s not a Fabergé egg. People have them every day.

Leo Grande: You don’t have to do any of this.
Nancy Stokes: No, I know. But I want to be a woman of the world. I mean, there are nuns out there with more sexual experience than me. It’s embarrassing.

Leo Grande: Nancy, you can just let go.
Nancy Stokes: Let go? What am I letting go of, exactly? I mean, we need some sort of plan, don’t we? I don’t want to swing from the chandeliers and make loud animal noises.
Leo Grande: I’d like to see that.

Leo Grande: You’re letting go of the thing inside that grips you. You know, that judges you. That watches you from the outside.
Nancy Stokes: Christ, if I let go of that, anything might happen. That’s the only thing keeping my life together. Keeping it ticking along.

Leo Grande: Nancy. There is no exam. It’s all a dance.
Nancy Stokes: I don’t know the steps.
Leo Grande: An improvised dance, we just go where it takes us. There’s no timetable. There’s no bell.
Nancy Stokes: But I’ve only paid for two hours.
Leo Grande: Well, then let’s enjoy them. Every single minute.

Nancy Stokes: Robert, my husband, he never wanted to try anything new. He planned everything. I mean, even his own funeral actually. I was terrified he’d turn up on the day and tell me I’d put the wrong ham in the sandwiches. It wasn’t a furnace of passion that burnt out our relationship. It was more like the bottom drawer of an AGA.

Leo Grande: [to Nancy] I think you mean your marriage stewed slowly, because you pushed it to the back. And then forgot about it.

Leo Grande: [referring Nancy’s daughter calling her] Shall I answer it? “Hello, darling. I’m sorry, but your mother has something in her mouth right now. I could take your message if you would like.”

'You're the only adventure I've ever had. The only freedom.' - Nancy Stokes (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande) Share on X

Nancy Stokes: Matthew will provide the grandchildren, I’ve no doubt of that. If Pamela can just keep herself alive, I’ll be happy.
Leo Grande: You don’t sound very happy.
Nancy Stokes: Well, it’s very stressful being a parent, Leo. It’s a stress that never leaves you. It’s like a thumb on a bruise.

See more Good Luck to You, Leo Grande Quotes

Nancy Stokes: Sometimes my children feel like a dead weight around my neck. I’m not sure I’d have done it if I’d known.
Leo Grande: What do you mean?
Nancy Stokes: I mean, I could’ve done many other things, if I hadn’t been a mother.
Leo Grande: What else would you have done?
Nancy Stokes: I don’t know. Crossed the desert on a horse. Started an artists colony on a hot little island. Had an orgasm.

Leo Grande: Do you think your kids could feel it? Your disappointment in them?
Nancy Stokes: I don’t know, Leo. I doubt it. They mostly didn’t notice me, I think.

Leo Grande: Anyway, there’s still time for you.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, that’s sweet. But there isn’t. This is it. My final attempt at a life.
Leo Grande: For the orgasm, I mean. You might have to abandon riding a horse across the desert.

Nancy Stokes: [referring to Leo keeping his body fit] Don’t you ever feel sometimes it’s a bit shallow?
Leo Grande: Yeah. But my clients like it, you know. And I like being wanted by them. And when I’m here with you, being looked at by you, I feel good.
Nancy Stokes: God, I can barely imagine that.

Nancy Stokes: I’ve always been ashamed of myself. My body, I mean.
Leo Grande: Always?
Nancy Stokes: Always been aware of what’s wrong with it. You know, stubby thighs, fat tummy, boobs come down to my naval now. My arms wobble. They have done since I was twenty actually. And if I didn’t pluck here, and here, I could join a circus after a month.
Nancy Stokes: [as Leo looks closer at her chin] Oh, I’ve plucked it.

Leo Grande: Don’t be fooled by the muscles, Nancy. I sometimes feel ashamed too.
Nancy Stokes: That’s hard to imagine.
Leo Grande: Well, if I didn’t look like this you might not have chosen me, or wanted me.

Leo Grande: Your body is beautiful. I wish you could see that.
Nancy Stokes: I have always quite liked my calves. They’re not completely awful.

Nancy Stokes: I can hear my mother. “Vanity is a weakness, dear.”
Leo Grande: It’s not vain to enjoy your body. To love it. But I know that voice in your head, the one that talks s**t at you. I have one too. It gets tiring. So boring.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, I’m sorry to bore you.
Leo Grande: You’re not boring me, Nancy.

Nancy Stokes: Is Leo Grande your real name?
Leo Grande: No. Is Nancy Stokes your real name?
Nancy Stokes: No.

Nancy Stokes: I want to play at something else. I want to play at feeling young again. I want that feeling back. That feeling of having it all before me.
Leo Grande: You want to be sixteen again?
Nancy Stokes: No, I don’t want to be sixteen again. Being sixteen is bloody awful. I want the feeling of being sixteen again. That power. God, I didn’t know I had it. It was wasted on me.

Nancy Stokes: Isn’t selling sex illegal?
Leo Grande: No, soliciting money for sex is illegal. I don’t solicit money for sex, Nancy. No, I sell my company. I provide interesting conversation. I can dance, I can make twenty different cocktails. Whether or not we have sex is our business. There’s nothing illegal about that. I mean, as well as the blow jobs, it’s also quite nice to get to know each other.
Nancy Stokes: Yes, I suppose so.

Nancy Stokes: I see where this is going.
Leo Grande: It’s not “going” anywhere.
Nancy Stokes: Here it comes. The hard sell. What, is it like driving lessons? Do I get ten for the price of nine if I book in advance with the Leo Grande School of Sex? I don’t know what other kind of clients you have, Leo, but I am not a rich woman.

Nancy Stokes: I’m scared. That’s the truth.
Leo Grande: Of what?
Nancy Stokes: That I won’t like it. That you won’t like it.
Leo Grande: Maybe you won’t. But you can try and see. It’s no harm. Unless you’re going to bite it off. In which case, I probably won’t like it.

Leo Grande: Nancy, everyone needs something different. Maybe you just want to talk?

Leo Grande: There’s a guy who wants me to dress up as a cat, and then ignore him for an hour, and go home.
Nancy Stokes: What, and have no sex?
Leo Grande: No.
Nancy Stokes: I think you’d make a very good cat, for what’s worth. Maybe you just want to talk?

Leo Grande: I don’t judge my clients. You know? Unless they’re total a**holes. And you’re definitely not a total a**hole.
Nancy Stokes: Well, that’s nice to hear.

Leo Grande: Everyone wants something different.
Nancy Stokes: You sound like some sort of sex saint. Are you real?

Nancy Stokes: You make it sound like it should be available from the local council. Like a public service.
Leo Grande: Can you imagine how much less bulls**t there would be?
Nancy Stokes: As long as they don’t put the rates up, because people are furious enough about that.

Leo Grande: I think it’s much bigger than that, the whole idea. Just think how civilised it could be if it was just available to all, and there’s no shame attached, there’s no judgement. You want sex, and you’re frustrated, you can’t get it for whatever reason. You’re shy, you’re unwell, you’re grieving, you’re physically struggling, so you just hire someone like me. It’s all regulated and safe. For you, for me, better for everyone. And I help you. Or I pleasure you. Even better.

Leo Grande: The thing is, lots of people like the secrecy. They get off on it, or they just want the fantasy. And that’s totally fine. But I quite like the reality, and it’s my actual job, so.

Leo Grande: You know, one thing I love, Nancy, is just to watch someone’s face when they feel pleasure. When they let go, when they succumb, when the body goes with it, and that heat, and that feeling. Everything just loosens. It’s just so, so great.

Nancy Stokes: Anyway, that’s number two ticked off the bucket list.
Leo Grande: Or “licked off the f***-it list”.
Nancy Stokes: Quite. And I’m very happy about that. You are very good at this whole business, you know. I hope you know. People should tell you.

Nancy Stokes: It’s a sort of mysterious gift you have.
Leo Grande: It’s not so mysterious. I just make the effort. And I like you, so it’s easy.
Nancy Stokes: See? See? You always know the right thing to say, when to make the move, and all that.
Leo Grande: You learn to read people.

Leo Grande: I thought you were happy with what I’m doing.
Nancy Stokes: Oh my goodness. Believe me, I am. My body is no longer the carcass I’ve been heaving around for thirty years. No, it’s now a thing of wonder. “A playground of delight”, as you say.
Leo Grande: Did I say that?
Nancy Stokes: Perhaps not.

Leo Grande: [after Nancy reveals she found out his real name] I have boundaries. I’ve asked you to respect them. You haven’t, so I’ll be going now. Please don’t attempt to book me again.

Nancy Stokes: I’ll still call you Leo.
Leo Grande: You won’t calling me anything because I won’t be here.
Nancy Stokes: Okay, Connor.
Leo Grande: Don’t you call me that. My name is Leo Grande. You booked Leo Grande, and you got Leo Grande. And from what I could tell, by the moans and the sighs, you have no complaints with Leo Grande, am I right?
Nancy Stokes: Yes.
Leo Grande: Good. So we’re clear on that.

Leo Grande: This is Leo Grande. I made him, and I’m proud of him. And by the way, “Nancy Stokes” I could find out who you are myself, you know. How do you think people would react if they knew their ex-RE teacher was hiring young men to lick their pu**y in a hotel room? What? Is that a little too real for you? Because that’s just what we’ve just been doing, so don’t get squeamish now.

Nancy Stokes: Why can’t we be friends? I mean, is it because I’m old? Because old ladies aren’t allowed to participate in anything where have to be kept quiet and cosseted, until, oh, until you need our money, and then you’ll turn up and do anything.

Leo Grande: You know there’s a word for this. It’s called cyber-stalking. And nutters do it. Crazy, sad, desperate nutters like you.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, well, I am so sorry that I had the audacity to find out the true identity of the man I’ve been having sex with for the past month.

Leo Grande: Nobody is explaining anything to my mother, because far as she’s concerned, I’m dead.
Nancy Stokes: Sorry, what? What? What?
Leo Grande: Yeah. That’s what she tells everyone. There. Do you feel sexy now? Feel like that’s what you’re paying for? No, I didn’t think so.

Leo Grande: Look, Nancy, I’m sorry that your son is so immensely boring, and that your daughter has a more exciting life than you. You said your kids are like a dead weight around your neck, so let’s not pretend you’re exactly “Mother of the Year” yourself, right?

Nancy Stokes: [referring to Leo’s mother] Why? Why did she disown you? What did you do?
Leo Grande: What did I do? What did I do? I just disappointed the f*** out of her.

Leo Grande: I just, I wasn’t what she wanted. What she imagined for herself.
Nancy Stokes: I’m sorry.
Leo Grande: Yeah, well, you can quit judging me, you know, my life, my work. You don’t actually care about the truth of my life. You just wanted something exotic. A broken little whore. And I guess you found him. Well done you.

Becky: [as Nancy is waiting for Leo at the hotel restaurant] I’m Becky Foster, do you remember me?
Nancy Stokes: No, actually. Funnily enough, I don’t. Sorry.
Becky: Yeah, you used to teach me in year eight.
Nancy Stokes: Did I? I can’t have taught you very well, could I?
Becky: Why is that?
Nancy Stokes: Because you’re working here.

Nancy Stokes: It’s a very powerful thing. Sexual fulfilment. It makes you feel, well, it made me feel invincible. I hadn’t realised. I wish I’d known sooner, when I was younger. I’d have made the necessary changes.
Leo Grande: At least you’ve done that now.
Nancy Stokes: Yes. Yes. And you know, I have felt more alive, and more powerful in this last month than I can ever remember.

Leo Grande: You told a couple of them about me. Your friends.
Nancy Stokes: Yes, I have made recommendations for the great Leo Grande. I told them you’re the master of the menopause.
Leo Grande: I’ll put it on my business card.

Nancy Stokes: Leo, my name, my real name is Susan Robinson. Such a boring name, isn’t it?
Leo Grande: Mrs Robinson. That’s cute.
Nancy Stokes: I’ve never done anything interesting or remarkable in my life. This is it.

Nancy Stokes: You’re the only adventure I’ve ever had. The only freedom. And I wanted it to be real. I wasn’t thinking about it properly. I was mad with some fever, lust, or whatever. It made me mad. I’ve never… I’m sorry, Leo.
Leo Grande: That’s it.
Nancy Stokes: That’s it. I just wanted to see you, see you were alright. Tell you what you’ve done for me. To thank you, and to say goodbye.

Nancy Stokes: [referring to Becky] My legacy. As an educator.
Leo Grande: “Concupiscence”. It is a good word. It’s a new one on me.
Nancy Stokes: Oh, well, I’m glad to have found one you didn’t know. I was hoping I would.

Nancy Stokes: [to Leo] She was wrong, your mother. There is nothing disgusting, or disappointing about you.

Nancy Stokes: Becky, I would like to apologize to you.
Becky: What?
Nancy Stokes: Yes. I owe you an apology. For calling you a slut. That was wrong. That was not a word, or idea I should have used with a group of impressionable teenage girls. I thought I was doing the right thing at the time, trying to protect you.

Nancy Stokes: [after revealing that she’s meeting Leo for sex] And, Becky, you may already know this, I hope you do, but pleasure is a wonderful thing. It’s something we should all have. If you’ll excuse us, I have a room booked upstairs, and Leo and I need to get going if we want to fit a session in in the remaining time, because there’s a couple of things I’d like to try.
Leo Grande: It was great to meet you, Becky. I hope maybe we’ll run into each other again sometime.

Nancy Stokes: [after they’ve had sex, and she’s finally orgasmed] Leo, I think this should be the last time we meet.
Leo Grande: I’m glad you booked me.
Nancy Stokes: I’m glad you came.
Leo Grande: I’m glad you came. Right?
Nancy Stokes: I’m very satisfied customer, put it like that. I shall be ticking the big green smiley face on the feedback form.

Nancy Stokes: Well.
Leo Grande: Well.
Nancy Stokes: Good bye, then, Leo Grande. And good luck to you. Good luck to you.
Leo Grande: Take care, Nancy.
[after Leo leaves, Nancy looks in the mirror and admires her own naked body]

Trailer: