ANDThere is a director capable of making two films a yearplaying with different genres? Yes it is Steven Soderberghwhich has been moving between the independent dimension for over 30 years (Sex, lies and videotapes) and the mainstream one (Ocean’s Eleven, Magic Mike) with extreme prolificacy. With so many titles under his belt, some risk going unnoticed: this is the case with Let them talkcomedy mystery starring Meryl Streep and Dianne Wiest. In the United States it was released directly in streaming in 2020; arrives in Italy today, Thursday 28 May, it’s on Netflix.
Let them talk on Netflix: plot and cast film streaming, Meryl Streep
Alice Hughes (Meryl Streep) is an American writer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, who is working on her new novel, about which nothing is known at the moment. In the meantime, she was awarded a literary prize in the United Kingdom and is therefore invited to withdraw it. The woman cannot fly due to her health problems: so she decides to make the journey crossing the Atlantic on board the ship Queen Mary 2. He is accompanied by his nephew Tyler (Lucas Hedges) and longtime friends Roberta (Candice Bergen) and Susan (Diane West).
Secretly, Karen (Gemma Chan), Alice’s agent, also boards the ship with the aim of finding out what the author is working on. The publisher hopes it will be the sequel to his most famous work, You Always/You Never. Karen hooks Tyler, asking him to get information from his aunt without being noticed. Together in the same space, with no possibility of escape, and without much to do other than talk, talk, talk, between the characters secrets, unsaid things and sudden revelations emerge. On the move Alice’s work but also the relationships between them, put to the test by living together.
The review of Let them talk
Always a lover of experimentation, Soderbergh shot Let them talk using natural light and very little equipment directly on board Queen Mary 2. Many of the long dialogues were also improvised by the cast on set. The effect is of a film that seems to film the conversations of the characters live, which thus appear very natural. A vortex of continuous back and forth that soon overwhelms the viewer: extricating himself is not at all easy.
The fulcrum of the story is a mystery (what is Alice’s new novel about?), in fact a tool for setting up long discussions on literary and existential themes. Let them talk is an “intellectual mystery” that reflects on what it means to write, what inspires authors and to what extent they can take inspiration from their lives and that of their loved ones. Significant themes that are lightened by the ironic approach with which the director portrays his characters, each with their own quirks and foibles. As well as a first-rate cast in a state of grace, very entertaining and close-knit.
In fact, her friend Roberta has long since broken off contact with Alice as she is convinced that in You Always/You Never the latter used explicit details about her and ruined her life. She denies it, but a clash is inevitable. Embracing a theme that is very popular today (see the latest Almodovar, now in cinema), Soderbergh recalls how the boundaries between fiction and reality can be very blurred. How every author does nothing but talk about himself and what surrounds him. And how it is very easy to create (self) narratives that confirm the most hidden suspicions, finding clues even where there are none.
The cast
In Let them talkin the role of Alice, we find the tireless Meryl Streeprecently seen in the O seriesnly Murders in the Building. TOThe three-time Oscar-winning actress is currently working on a film where she will play singer Joni Mitchell. In Let them talkAnd accompanied by Dianne West (unforgettable mother of Edward Scissorhandswho also appeared in Only Murders in the Building) and from Candice Bergen (Book Club).
Playing the protagonist’s nephew is Lucas Hedges, a young actor who is a revelation in Manchester by the Sea. Finally, in the role of Karen, there is Gemma Chan, who recently took part in The Creator alongside John David Washington.