Frustrated about this one because there were actually some interesting and compelling moments that got bogged down by cheesy cliches and shrouded by outdated tropes about teenagers and sexuality. If you are going to go for conflicted emotions and complex relationships involving stark power imbalances, and address both the allure and danger of that – the line between desire and risk, wrong and right – then fucking go for it. Don’t hide behind fetishization or surface level portrayal of the jilted ingenue and uninspired writer desperate for recognition. There can be something true in those archetypes – but expand upon it. Really delve into it. Otherwise, it just comes across as playing for the audience’s attention to the controversial aspect of the age gap and power play instead of showing why it is genuinely interesting and valuable to explore. There were moments of greatness in the dialogue and then moments of pure cringe that made me roll my eyes. Jonathan’s wife Beatrice was written as so one-note it was ridiculous. The first half of the film had real emotion and spark between the characters (the scene where Jonathan and Cairo recite each other’s writing to each other from memory was fantastic) and I wish that carried through to the end. Ultimately, Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega give good performances – I really am a fan of both of them as actors – but to make this film work, there needed to be more depth and zest infused into the story, especially in the latter half.