During Covid lockdowns, while many of us were glugging wine, projecting our insecurities on to our pets and pretending to read a lot, Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass were putting their time to much better use, collaborating on the excellent film Language Lessons. Morales’s 2021 directorial debut is a story of platonic friendship, adversity and mutual support, told entirely through video calls and messages.
Adam (Duplass) lives in Oakland, California and is given a course of online Spanish Lessons by his partner, Will (Desean Terry). His teacher, Cariño (Morales), lives in Costa Rica and through their weekly lessons a bond is quickly formed. When Adam’s life is turned upside down, Cariño is there as a source of stability – a constant presence during a period of turmoil. We watch this friendship form, grow and be tested. As far as plot goes, there’s not a lot more to say as it’s far better to let Adam and Cariño’s story unfold in front of you.
When I first watched Language Lessons on a plane, it left me choked up – and I figured I had fallen victim to that strange condition where flying makes you more susceptible to weeping over films. But I rewatched it and it turns out my reaction was not due to a pressurised cabin or the inherent stress of international economy travel. Morales and Duplass wrote a movie that knows how to grab you by the feelings and wring the emotions out of you, even when your feet are planted solidly on terra firma.
It’s worth pointing out Language Lessons is not a Covid story: the pandemic merely provided the circumstances to chart the ups and downs of a burgeoning long-distance friendship. While the concept of two people conversing for 90 minutes subverts the classic writer’s maxim of “show, don’t tell” by doing the complete opposite, the video call format allows for both character and dialogue – two of the fundamental aspects of great storytelling – to shine.
Perhaps it is this simplicity that makes Language Lessons so good. It is not a flashy film; there are no big set pieces, but it feels real and immediate. In some ways, Language Lessons is almost a chamber play, with only two locations and no sets, save the rooms Adam and Cariño are calling from. At times it is as if you are a participant in the calls, which allows us to become completely invested in everything that’s happening.
Morales’s impressive triple threat of writing, directing and starring in Language Lessons is aided and abetted by Duplass, her co-star and co-writer who has built a career making strong, character-driven movies of this nature. Alongside his brother Jay, the Duplass brothers’ early (and highly recommended) movies including The Puffy Chair, Baghead and The Do-Deca Pentathlon formed part of the Mumblecore subgenre. Language Lessons shares many of Mumblecore’s defining attributes: a modest scale, authentic dialogue and intimate storytelling.
Morales has created a bittersweet movie that’s nicely unpredictable when it needs to be. Language Lessons takes us to some dark places but there’s optimism in its bones. It’s earnest, at times, but never saccharine. The belief that bonds of friendship can overcome all else might be a familiar one, but it’s the perfect message for a movie born amid the isolation of lockdown, and one that never hurts us to be reminded of.
Language Lessons is available to stream on Kanopy. For more recommendations of what to stream in Australia, click here
