Katherine Loewe (Laura Dern) is a famous novelist who arrives in Morocco to attend an exclusive writers’ retreat. Her jetlag isn’t helped by the loss in transit of her luggage, meaning she is not quite in the mood to mingle and participate in activities with the other authors present.
Among these are young couple Lily and Owen (Diana Silvers and Liam Hemsworth). While the former is giddy to be around so many literary luminaries, her partner, an asset manager, is less at home. Who better to form a bond with, then, than Katherine, who is struggling to crack a bout of writer’s block.
The two buddy up and with Owen’s relationship with Lily being severely tested by the self-important environment, he and the more mature Katherine fall hard for each other.
If Netflix had a “mid-level mummy porn” category, Susannah Grant’s film would fit snugly into it, with its voyeuristic shots of the lavish Moroccan kasbah, exotic but cultured setting and, in Hemsworth, chiselled eye-candy.
More discerning viewers, however, will wonder why he and the always reliable Dern are so lacking in spark. A strangely insipid experience for a setup that, on paper at least, had potential.
Three stars