“'Lonely Planet' review: Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth leave home”

One of the strangest trends in cinema in 2024 has been steamy romances between middle-aged women and much younger men. Anne Hathaway starred in one, Léa Drucker in another and Nicole Kidman in more than a year two more. This plot is hardly new, either in concept – Hollywood history is full of older men falling in love with Ingénues – or in this specifically gendered execution, with examples from The Graduate to May December in the canon.

But this year's bumper harvest is striking and a little inexplicable. The nature of the story is fairly consistent: a woman is on a journey of self-discovery, and the liaison is the key to finding something indescribable that she has lost. The relationship may or may not be successful in the long term, but it hints at double standards when it comes to women's pleasure and can also make for some pretty hot cinema.

In this line-up for 2024, “Lonely Planet” is particularly notable for its lead role with Laura Dern. Unfortunately, despite its wattage, it pales in comparison to its cousins.

Dern plays Katherine Loewe, a well-known novelist who has flown to Marrakesh for a swank author's residency. She made her deadline, but is also in the middle of a bad breakup. Excited and exhausted, she hopes to find the space she needs to finally finish her next book.

Other residents include Lily Kemp (Diana Silvers), whose first book made her an instant literary star. She is insecure and still young enough to be impressed by the other authors present, including Katherine. And she's also young enough to have brought her boyfriend Owen (Liam Hemsworth) with her. (An experienced writer would probably know enough about the usual social scene in residences to leave him behind in New York.) But Lily is annoyed that Owen constantly has to leave her room at night to answer calls about a deal he has made with him completes private equity ventures.

That Owen and Katherine will eventually meet seems inevitable; The only question is how and why. The formula is that each character must see in the other something that they are missing, a part of themselves that they have given up. The attraction of this other person is undeniable, revealing and healing. But this is where “Lonely Planet” goes wrong.

Susannah Grant, who wrote and directed this film, also wrote famous screenplays such as Pocahontas, Ever After, 28 Days and Erin Brockovich, and contributed to series such as Party of Five and Unbelievable. This fact is confusing when you think about Lonely Planet, which seems to lack a basic understanding of Owen and Katherine. It feels like we're supposed to think that Owen's obvious displeasure with Lily's success is, if not justified, at least understandable. But it is his defining quality that makes unclear the reasons why someone like Katherine would be attracted to him even as a friend, let alone a lover. (Maybe the reason is simply because he looks like Liam Hemsworth, but come on.)

Likewise, Katherine is strangely hollow, a woman who has lived a full life but seems strangely uninteresting, at least to us. Lily is enthusiastic about her writing, but we'll just have to take her word for it. What we see of Katherine is a woman who is sad and haunted, but hardly needs anyone to help her find her way.

These failures can be forgiven if the chemistry is right. That's not it. For this to work, the relationship needs a certain level of inevitability and comfort. Hers is stilted.

So this isn't really about desire, difference, or revelation. Instead, “Lonely Planet” locates the impetus for self-discovery in travel itself, with several characters discussing the benefits of moving away from familiar surroundings to learn more about who you really are. This is of course absolutely true. But what these characters are trying to figure out is unclear and vague and ultimately unsatisfying.

Perhaps the best thing about the film is that it reminds us of what it takes to make any on-screen romance work, especially an unexpected one. It can be fun to look at beautiful people in beautiful places, but you need more than just a pretty face to keep you interested in the long term (or a full-length movie).

Lonely planet
Rated R for some language and a fairly tame sex scene. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes. Watch on Netflix.