Nancy Stokes (Emma Thompson) is newly widowed and has been retired for some time as a religious education teacher with a role model function. So it's time to finally devote herself to her own long-cherished and long-hidden desires. The woman in her mid-fifties has only ever had sex in her marriage. She has never had an orgasm. Now Nancy longs for interpersonal closeness and sexual fulfillment. So what could be more obvious than hiring a callboy to make up for what she has missed? Leo Grande (Daryl McCormack) is the name of the young man, who not only turns out to be extremely attractive (as expected), but also an interesting and witty conversationalist. The sympathy is mutual - and not only that: After several meetings and with growing sexual self-confidence, the dynamic shifts and the facades begin to crumble. In this comedy starring the great Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack (“Peaky Blinders”), director Sophie Hyde exposes the repressed sexuality of the British middle class and takes aim at it with wit and charm. "This unusual pas de deux works because two actors meet at eye level despite their different ages and experience and have great fun competing in polished dialog. Oscar-winner Emma Thompson, who plays out her passion for acting between shyness and passion as a great comedienne, and 29-year-old Daryl McCormack meet with burning honesty, unromantic intimacy and moving vulnerability. [...] Overcoming shame, accepting one's own body, the courage to face one's age, the fight against misogynistic conventions - rarely have these themes been dealt with so intensely and with so much humor. In the last scene, Emma Thompson stands completely naked, lost but self-confident in front of the mirror - a scene that was not easy for her. And she gives advice to all women who regret that they are not perfect enough: "Just take your clothes off and stand in front of a mirror. Don't move. Accept yourself as you are, don't judge yourself". (Margret Köhler, in: “Abendzeitung”)