Forget The Menendez Brothers
This Netflix original is at number 1
Not nearly as intense as ‘The Menendez Brothers’, by the way. Just a nice watch dominates the Netflix top. ‘Lonely Planet’, that's what I'm talking about, is one that you turn on after a long day at work. Just relax and watch a movie, one where you don't have to think too much and shake off all the stress.
Writer's block and relationship problems
Novelist Katherine Loewe (Laura Dern) travels to Morocco in hopes of finally overcoming her writer's block and to escape her meddlesome ex-husband who keeps bothering her with ads for houses so she doesn't have to live with him anymore. She joins a writers‘ retreat, where she meets the 23-year-younger Owen Brophy (Liam Hemsworth). He works in finance but accompanies his girlfriend and aspiring writer Lily Kemp (Diana Silvers). However, things aren't going well between them. They sometimes live days past each other, and she seems unable to accept that he has no interest in literature. Katherine and Owen both isolate themselves from the group: she to work quietly, he because he feels completely out of place in the writing world. The two meet during their ’solo' plans and a bond quickly forms.
An ode to travel
Director Susannah Grant, who also wrote the screenplay, wanted to make a film about the transformative power that travel can have: “How you can sometimes travel thousands of kilometers away from everything you know about your life and see yourself in a revealing new light.” Both main characters are at an important point in their lives. Katherine has just divorced and struggles with the pressure from her publisher to come up with another book. Owen realizes that his relationship isn't as strong as he thought, and his work is also stagnating. They find each other in their search for who they are now and what they want, and the completely new environment and culture help with that. It goes beyond friendship and romantic tension. “It's about finding someone who truly sees and understands you, which is something deeply human and relatable,” says Laura.
Yet some criticism
Is it the most original storyline ever? No, not really, and film critics point that out. But that doesn't make this film any less enjoyable to watch. The Moroccan sets are beautiful, and Laura and Liam provide quite a bit of fireworks. If you're in the mood for a classic evening of swooning, ‘Lonely Planet’ is your film.
