There's nothing like a steamy romance movie starring an actual Oscar winner to make the case for yourself as the best streaming service out there – or, at least, that's what Netflix is hoping.
The streamer has just dropped the first trailer for Lonely Planet, starring Laura Dern as a professional writer who's struggling badly to finish her latest book. She takes herself off to a writers' retreat in Morocco but doesn't expect the surprise romance she'll find there.
It's not just the slightly competitive and high-pressure atmosphere that quickens her pulse – another young writer has brought her boyfriend, played by Liam Hemsworth. Dern's novelist and Hemsworth's hunk seem to hit it off fairly immediately as they share dissatisfaction with how their relationships are going.
From there, it looks like a slow road to some inevitably steamy action, and the trailer makes it pretty clear that the two of them will be getting pretty entangled – despite a not-inconsiderable age gap (as one YouTube commenter puts it: "Liam Hemsworth was 3 years old when Jurassic Park was released, which starred Laura Dern, who was 26!").
That does mean that this is one of those movies that would probably be best served by watching it without having seen any trailers, to really preserve the sense of surprise at a somewhat atypical on-screen affair. So, if you've got someone in your life who loves a romantic movie, perhaps you should steer them clear of any more teasers and just book a viewing session.
You'll have to wait a few weeks to do so, admittedly – Lonely Planet doesn't arrive on Netflix until 11 October. It'll be curious to see how it lands in terms of reviews, too. After all, Netflix was on a run of pretty stinking verdicts for its original movies until the recent thriller (and a former no.1 in its charts) Rebel Ridge arrived to set things right.
The good news for the giant streamer is that review scores don't seem to matter for much other than bragging rights, since those terribly-reviewed movies have nonetheless been doing huge numbers in terms of viewers and minutes watched. Still, hopefully Lonely Planet sees Dern on top form, more Marriage Story than Jurassic World Dominion.
