Honestly, the cast of The Lesson 2023 is exactly why this movie didn't just vanish into the endless void of streaming thrillers. It’s a slow-burn British noir. It’s claustrophobic. If the acting had been even slightly off, the whole house of cards would’ve come crashing down. You've probably seen plenty of movies about aspiring writers and their eccentric mentors, but this one hits differently because of the sheer weight of the people on screen.
Richard E. Grant is basically a god of the "pompous but fragile" archetype at this point.
When you look at the cast of The Lesson 2023, you aren't just looking at names on a poster; you're looking at a very specific chemistry experiment. Alice Troughton, the director, clearly knew that the tension needed to be tactile. It’s set in a massive, isolated estate, which usually feels like a cliché, but the actors make it feel like a pressure cooker.
Richard E. Grant as J.M. Sinclair: A Masterclass in Ego
If we’re talking about the cast of The Lesson 2023, we have to start with Grant. He plays J.M. Sinclair, a legendary author who is basically a walking trauma response wrapped in a very expensive cardigan.
Grant has this way of being incredibly menacing while barely raising his voice. He’s spent decades perfecting the role of the intellectual elite—think Can You Ever Forgive Me?—but here, there’s a bitterness that feels new. Sinclair is a man whose son died by suicide, and his grief has curdled into a kind of aristocratic cruelty. He doesn't just want to write books; he wants to control the very air people breathe in his house.
The way he interacts with the younger protagonist is honestly uncomfortable to watch. It’s a mentor-mentee relationship that feels more like a cat playing with a mouse that it has no intention of eating. Grant’s performance is the anchor. Without his ability to switch from charming host to cold-blooded narcissist in a single frame, the movie's ending wouldn't have nearly the same impact.
Daryl McCormack: The Ambitious Outsider
Daryl McCormack plays Liam Sommers, the young tutor hired to help Sinclair’s living son, Bertie, pass his entrance exams. Most people recognize McCormack from Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, where he was incredibly soulful and charismatic. In the cast of The Lesson 2023, he brings a different kind of energy.
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Liam is smart. Maybe too smart for his own good.
He’s a fanboy of Sinclair, which is his first mistake. McCormack plays Liam with this subtle, growing realization that his hero is a fraud—or at least, a monster. There’s a scene where Liam is reciting Sinclair's own work back to him, and you can see the desperation in his eyes. He wants to be in that world so badly that he’s willing to ignore the red flags popping up all over the estate.
It’s a breakout role in many ways. It proves he can hold his own against a veteran like Grant.
Julie Delpy: The Quiet Architect of the Plot
Then there’s Julie Delpy.
She plays Hélène, Sinclair’s wife. In any other movie, she’d be the "long-suffering wife" trope. But Delpy is a powerhouse. She plays Hélène as an art curator who is just as calculating, if not more so, than her husband. She’s the one who hires Liam. She’s the one moving the pieces on the board.
Delpy brings a cool, European detachment to the role. While Grant is the fire, she is the ice. Her performance is subtle—mostly looks across a dinner table or quiet conversations in the garden—but she’s the glue. You never quite know if she’s protecting Liam or using him as a sacrificial lamb to fix her broken marriage.
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The Supporting Players and the Atmosphere
The rest of the cast of The Lesson 2023 is small, which is a good thing. Stephen McMillan plays Bertie, the son. He’s caught between his father’s impossible expectations and his own desire to just... exist. McMillan captures that "rich kid who is actually miserable" vibe perfectly.
The estate itself is almost a character. It's lush, green, and feels like it’s miles away from the real world. This isolation is crucial because it makes the power dynamics between the characters feel much more dangerous. There’s no one to call for help. No one is coming to save Liam from the psychological games the Sinclairs are playing.
Why the Casting Choices Mattered for the Noir Genre
Noir is all about the "wrong" person in the "wrong" place.
- The Protagonist: Liam (McCormack) is the classic noir lead—driven by ambition and a bit of lust for a life he doesn't own.
- The Antagonist: Sinclair (Grant) represents the corrupt system or the "king" who needs to be toppled.
- The Femme Fatale (or Homme Fatale): Hélène (Delpy) occupies that grey area where her motivations remain obscured until the final act.
The casting directors, Reg Poerscout-Edgerton and others, didn't just go for big names. They went for actors who could handle long stretches of dialogue without it feeling like a stage play. The movie relies on subtext. What isn't being said at the dinner table is usually more important than what is.
The Twist and the Performance Shift
Without giving too much away if you haven't seen it, the third act of the film requires a massive shift in how we perceive the cast of The Lesson 2023.
Suddenly, the victim isn't who you think it is.
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Richard E. Grant’s performance shifts from "arrogant genius" to "vulnerable liar" with terrifying speed. Watching him lose control is the highlight of the film. Similarly, Daryl McCormack has to transition from a nervous tutor to someone who is willing to burn the whole house down to get what he wants.
It’s a movie about the cost of Great Art. Or, more accurately, the cost of pretending to be a Great Artist. The cast carries that theme through every scene. They make you believe that writing a novel could actually be a life-or-death situation, which is a hard sell in 2026.
How to Appreciate the Film Now
If you’re going to watch The Lesson, don’t go in expecting an action thriller. It’s a chamber piece.
- Watch the eyes: Especially in the scenes between Grant and McCormack. The power shifts happen in the silences.
- Listen to the score: Isobel Waller-Bridge (yes, Phoebe’s sister) did the music, and it complements the actors' performances perfectly. It’s sharp and jagged.
- Pay attention to the "lesson" itself: The title has multiple meanings, and by the end, every member of the cast of The Lesson 2023 has learned something they probably wish they hadn't.
The movie works because it doesn't overreach. It knows it's a small, mean story about mean people. But because the actors are so high-caliber, it feels much larger. It’s a reminder that you don't need a $200 million budget if you have Richard E. Grant sneering at a young man over a glass of expensive wine.
The legacy of the film is really in these performances. It's often compared to The Ghost Writer or even Saltburn, though it's much more restrained than the latter. It deals with class and intellectual property in a way that feels very modern, despite the old-school setting.
If you want to dive deeper into the film's production, look for interviews with Alice Troughton. She talks extensively about how she blocked the scenes to emphasize the height difference between McCormack and Grant, making the power struggle visual before a single word was spoken. That kind of intentionality is rare, and it’s why the cast of The Lesson 2023 stands out as one of the better ensembles in recent indie cinema.
Take the time to watch it on a quiet night. It’s the kind of movie that benefits from zero distractions. You want to hear every syllable of Grant’s insults. They’re basically poetry.
For anyone looking to understand the mechanics of a psychological thriller, this is the textbook. Observe how the power dynamics flip. Notice how Delpy uses silence as a weapon. Study how Grant's posture changes when he feels threatened. These aren't just actors reading lines; they're architects building a trap.