British acting icon Emma Thompson could be in the running for her third Oscar in a small film dealing with big themes called Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.
Newshub's Kate Rodger sat down to chat with Thompson in Sydney about her most revealing role yet.
The actress has spent her career pushing boundaries and with her latest film, she pulls back the covers on the most basic of human desires - our need for connection.
Thompson plays retired and widowed teacher Nancy Stokes.
Stokes has lived a life entirely devoid of adventure, she hires sex-worker Leo Grande to change that.
"I couldn't have played this 10 years ago, also the actual story would have landed very differently five-10 years ago - it's so in the zeitgeist," Thompson told Newshub.
A small film with an even smaller budget, it was shot in just 19 days with all the drama unfolding inside just one room - a hotel bedroom.
The intimacy of the story was shot in the most intimate of environments exploring intimacy itself.
Thompson said the limited space allowed the film to go into the depths of what intimacy means.
"What's wonderful about having one space is that you're limited to that environment and therefore what comes out of it that little black box is just like fireworks. It's like taking a box, filling it with fireworks, setting fire to them and putting the lid on the box."
Thompson said the film allowed the characters to unlock parts of each other.
"Seeing two people unlock each other, in a way they're a key in some way to one another."
Director Sophie Hyde told Newshub it discusses the barriers people put to avoid being intimate with one another.
"All the barriers and boundaries we put up to true connection. There are so many things - everything to stop real connection - yet all we want is to connect with each other."
It shouldn't be brave yet it is. Thompson, her break-out co-star Daryl McCormack and their director Sophie Hyde understand the absolute power of storytelling through the female lens.
"We're not asked what we would like most of the time and we certainly don't ask ourselves what we might like. That's why what Nancy does is so radical," Thompson said.
Radical, powerful, ground-breaking, life-affirming, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande could snaffle Thompson another Oscar nomination and it has just landed in New Zealand cinemas.
