52 Films by Women Vol 6. 14. LANGUAGE LESSONS (Director: Natalie Morales)
Contains Spanish – and spoilers I was quietly bowled over by Language Lessons , the feature directorial debut of Natalie Morales, who also takes one of two leading roles and co-wrote the script with her co-star, Mark Duplass. Now I want to be loud about it! It is, one would judge, a typical by-product of the Covid-19 pandemic in that it is a series of Zoom calls between Cari ñ o (Morales), a young Spanish teacher based in Costa Rica and Adam (Duplass), who is, as far as we are told, the husband of an exceptionally talented and successful choreographer, Will (Desean Terry) whose voice we hear in the opening scene. How do we know he’s successful? Will and Adam’s house in Oakland, California, is huge. It has its own pool and for all I know might be Morales’ own house, having established herself as an actress in the TV series, 90210 , Trophy Wife , Parks and Recreation (that’s the biggie) and The Grinder . Will answers a video call from Cari ñ o, who is about to give Adam t...