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Movies like Lonely Planet on Netflix: Susannah Grant’s ‘Lonely Planet’ on Netflix is a gorgeous romance drama that stars Laura Dern in the leading role. Dern has had an illustrious acting career of over five decades. With projects ranging from David Lynch’s ‘Inland Empire’ to Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jurassic Park’, from Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’ to HBO’s ‘Big Little Lies’, she has proved herself to be a versatile actor. After a string of intricate performances, she has returned with a breezy, tender romance that celebrates the value of leisure for a much-needed soul-searching.
In this gorgeous romance, Dern plays Katherine, a reclusive novelist who travels to Morocco for a writer’s retreat. She hopes a change in setting will help her get over her writer’s block. While there, she meets her apprentice, Owen (Liam Hemsworth) and falls for him. What starts out as an intoxicating romance gradually turns into her liberating journey of self-discovery. Written by Grant, the script oozes with her emotional warmth and maturity evident from her previous work like ‘Unbelievable’ and ‘Erin Brockovich’.
If you liked Laura Dern’s ‘Lonely Planet’ for its idyllic landscapes, its sumptuous romance, or its moving portrait of a writer’s struggles, and are looking for something similar, here are a few movie recommendations:
1. Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)
Audrey Wells’s ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ follows Frances Mayes, a 35-year-old American writer, with a successful writing career. After her divorce, she is left with a writer’s block and a burgeoning despair. In that emotional state, she accepts her close friend Patti’s suggestion and travels to Italy for a change of pace. While in Tuscany, she sees a house on sale and decides to buy it on a whim. In one way or the other, she wants to move away from her past in San Francisco.
The old-school Italian house quenches her thirst for a tranquil escape. It allows her to lead her life rather impulsively, taking it day by day. During her prolonged stay, she learns and relearns facets of her life while also falling in and out of love with handsome Italian strangers. It establishes her faith in romantic love and offers her a chance for self-discovery. Due to these thematic similarities in a writer’s journey, ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’ can be a great follow-up to ‘Lonely Planet’.
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2. Eat Pray Love (2010)
Written by Elizabeth Gilbert, ‘Eat Pray Love’ is a biographical romantic drama based on Gilbert’s own life. It follows Gilbert contemplating the true meaning of her life as she decides to break her marriage. This decision puts her in a state of financial disarray but allows her the freedom to make unconventional life choices. She travels to different countries, learns about their cultures, meets different kinds of people, and experiences love and heartbreak in her thoroughly enlightening journey.
The film shows Gilbert reclaiming her lust for life without the concerns that plague women of all ages. It takes her on a beautiful journey through pretty landscapes. The film celebrates self-fulfilment through its sunshiny directorial style and does not judge her impulsive actions. It presents her emotional state with enough compassion. As a writer, Gilbert learns diverse perspectives through the act of travelling. For these reasons, it is an apt movie to watch if you love the bright and colourful world of ‘Lonely Planet’.
3. The Idea of You (2024)
Written by Robinne Lee, ‘The Idea of You’ follows Solène, a 40-year-old single mother who falls for Hayes Campbell, a 24-year-old singer from a boy band. The film offers us a close look into Solène’s past to make us empathise with her. Her ex-husband cheated on her. While he is to blame for their separation, she lives under its emotional burden, until she crosses paths with Hayes. While at a music festival with her daughter, Solène falls head over heels for this younger man, who loves her unconditionally.
The film is filled with the cheesy genre tropes that we have seen in many romance dramas. However, it also critiques the hypocrisy of people accepting age-gap romances with the role reversed. At the end of the day, it’s about a woman seeking joy and a sense of fulfilment when the other options in her life leave her high and dry. So, despite its cliches, the film works because of Anne Hathaway’s moving central performance and Michael Showalter’s sensible direction.
4. Bergman Island (2021)
Mia Hansen-Løve’s ‘Bergman Island’ follows Chris (Vicky Krieps) & Tony (Tim Roth), a screenwriter couple that travels to the island where the iconic Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman once lived. They live in Bergman’s old house, hoping to find inspiration for their next work. While going through the history of Bergman’s work, they find many similarities between their lives and his fiction. It pushes them to address the underlying issues in their relationship to understand themselves better.
The film focuses on Chris’s journey and emotional upheaval as she moves away from blind idolism and confronts reality. Hansen-Løve’s screenplay addresses issues integral to a female writer’s life such as rigid gender expectations. It doesn’t shy away from questioning the avoidant men whose flaws are often overshadowed by their artistic talent. Shot beautifully by Denis Lenoir, it offers an invigorating look inside Chris’ inner world while addressing her quest for self-exploration.
5. The Lost Daughter (2021)
Based on Elena Ferrante’s novel, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s ‘The Lost Daughter’ follows Leda, a middle-aged professor and translator, who travels to Greece for her university vacation. While there, she notices Nina, a young mother worried about a missing doll of her three-year-old daughter. Leda gets consumed with thoughts about Nina and her family since they remind her of her own dark past. It brings back painful memories of her relationship with her daughters and puts her in a whirlwind of emotions.
Gyllenhaal’s screenplay, which won the Golden Osella award at the Venice Film Festival, analyses her female characters with utmost compassion. It looks for the deeper truth behind their flaws and offers a range of vivid portraits. The film examines mother-daughter relationships, gender dynamics, and the sheer burden of motherhood on women that cripples them from having other ambitions or desires. Much like ‘Lonely Planet’, it is also about a female writer’s journey of self-exploration.
6. Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022)
Sophie Hyde’s ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ follows Nancy Stokes, a retired religious education school teacher, who hires Leo, a male sex worker to fulfil the desires she could not with her deceased husband. Although a dramatic situation, the film handles it like a romantic comedy, showing them as a couple just as anxious as someone would be on their first date. Through this light-hearted approach, the film brings up several themes in discussion about love, desires, and companionship.
It offers a refreshing look into the subject of women’s sexual pleasure, quite underexplored on celluloid. The film does so with emotional maturity and brevity anchored by two brilliant central performances by Emma Thompson and Daryl McCormack. Although not about a female writer, the film discusses topics that are still taboo, which makes even a simple idea of pleasure seem surprisingly radical. Besides, it also shows a meaningful connection formed between an older woman and a younger man.