A West Texas single mother wins the lottery and squanders it just as fast, leaving behind a world of heartbreak. Years later, with her charm running out and nowhere to go, she fights to rebuild her life and find redemption.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.9/10
IMDb: 7.1/10
Letterboxd: 3.47/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Metacritic: 84
TMDB: 7.0/10
Director
Michael Morris
Production
BCDF Pictures, Baral Waley Productions, Shaken, Not Stirred Productions, Bluewater Lane Productions
Cast
Andrea Riseborough, Marc Maron, Andre Royo, Owen Teague, Allison Janney, Stephen Root, James Landry Hébert, Matt Lauria, Catfish Jean, Drew Youngblood, Tom Virtue, Lauren Letherer, Sewell Whitney, Pramod Kumar, Blake Robbins, Brandee Steger, Chris Jones, Alan Wells, Alan Trong, Scott Peat
Curator Review
Verdict
A sturdy, emotionally direct redemption drama lifted by Andrea Riseborough’s committed lead performance. It’s familiar in structure and sometimes leans hard on familiar recovery-movie beats, but the acting and lived-in West Texas atmosphere give it enough force to recommend for the right viewer.
Best for
Viewers who like raw, performance-driven character studies
Fans of addiction and recovery dramas
Audiences drawn to small-town Southern or Southwestern realism
People who don’t mind familiar story arcs if the acting is strong
Skip if
You want a highly original or formally adventurous drama
You’re tired of redemption stories built around relapse and recovery
You prefer lighter, more hopeful films about second chances
You’re looking for a plot with lots of twists or narrative surprises
Overview
To Leslie is the kind of modest, old-school drama that lives or dies on the lead performance, and Andrea Riseborough makes a persuasive case for the film’s existence. She gives Leslie volatility, shame, charm, and exhaustion in equal measure, turning what could have been a standard cautionary tale into something more bruised and human.
Worth noting
The film itself is less distinctive than its central turn. Its recovery arc, damaged relationships, and hard-won grace are all familiar, and the script occasionally telegraphs where it’s headed. Still, the West Texas setting and the supporting cast give it texture, and the movie understands how poverty and self-destruction can trap a person in cycles that are both personal and structural.
Bottom line
If you’re looking for a fresh formal approach, this won’t be the one. But if you respond to intimate, actor-led dramas about shame, relapse, and the possibility of repair, it lands with real feeling. It’s a movie that earns most of its power through performance rather than surprise.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sean Fennessey (3.5★) · 1214 likes
This is a real old-fashioned piece of moviemaking that will likely have its memory marred by one of the most successful and slightly discomforting awards campaigns in recent history. Whether Andrea Riseborough “deserves” her Academy Award nomination for Best Actress or is merely well-connected and the beneficiary of a savvy effort to publicly create awareness for her work is immaterial when you look at the movie. Because the latter is the purpose of ALL campaigns, and it’s all a clubby… more This is a real old-fashioned piece of moviemaking that will likely have its memory marred by one of the most successful and slightly discomforting awards campaigns in recent history. Whether Andrea Riseborough “deserves” her Academy Award nomination for Best Actress or is merely well-connected and the beneficiary of a savvy effort to publicly create awareness for her work is immaterial when you look at the movie. Because the latter is the purpose of ALL campaigns, and it’s all a clubby… more
Matt Neglia (3★) · 452 likes
Average movie. Superb performance.
davidehrlich (3★) · 382 likes
Michael Morris’ “To Leslie” is a redemptive drama about a poor Southern white lady played by Andrea Riseborough, who wins class="h-100"90,000 in the state lottery and only learns the value of sharing after she’s drank all her cash away. But for a while there, the film is almost as slippery and elusive as the actress who plays its title role.
Is it going to be — as the first stop along its episodic first half would suggest — a gruesome… more
Kevflix And Chill (4★) · 312 likes
Not sure why I hadn’t even heard of this film up until a few days ago, but I really loved it. Sure you could knock it for not being incredibly original, but I just love a story well told, even if I’ve heard the story a thousand times. Andrea Riseborough is so ridiculously good in this. She’s surrounded by excellent support as well from Allison Janney and Marc Maron in particular. Risenborough’s titular Leslie had won a class="h-100"90,000 lotto jackpot,… more Not sure why I hadn’t even heard of this film up until a few days ago, but I really loved it. Sure you could knock it for not being incredibly original, but I just love a story well told, even if I’ve heard the story a thousand times. Andrea Riseborough is so ridiculously good in this. She’s surrounded by excellent support as well from Allison Janney and Marc Maron in particular. Risenborough’s titular Leslie had won a class="h-100"90,000 lotto jackpot,… more
Merkin Muffley (3.5★) · 297 likes
was extremely not prepared for what allison janney looks like in this movie i almost fell off the couch