Lonely Planet

It arrived in a sea of straight-to-streaming movies and got lost in the blur of Netflix rows, but Lonely Planet is the kind of movie that will whisk you off to an intriguing place few have seen and allow you to escape into a few fantasies.

The first fantasy played out here is the dream job scenario, where the life of a novelist is not dreary and isolating, but a sunshine-filled Moroccan adventure with a warm and welcoming community of kindred souls.

Then there’s the escape into an otherworldly place where very few films are set, and the story takes us through the labyrinthine streets of mountain villages filled with cobalt blues (add Chefchaouen to your travel bucket list), the pink sandy beaches of a port village (Essaouira), and bustling old-world markets (Marrakech).

Of course, what you’re really here for is the romance, and the plot succeeds in setting up the stories to explain how Dern and Hemsworth’s characters could form a strong connection despite some obstacles – and a few gulfs – between them.

For a film about a writer’s retreat, it doesn’t try too hard to be literary or highfalutin. But unlike the many romcoms or Hallmark-style romdrams, Lonely Planet digs a little deeper as it takes you a lot farther from home.