Having more gay movies is never a bad thing — but upcoming sapphic romance The Housekeeper is leaving folks with some strong reservations.
The Housekeeper will follow a forbidden love affair between — you guessed it — a housekeeper, played by Uma Thurman, and a young novelist, played by Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor, all set at a historic manor in England. Lots of people were unabashedly thrilled at the casting announcement: Thurman and Dynevor are both stellar actors, so to see them on screen together, and as lovers no less, is a cinephile’s dream come true.
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But others couldn’t help but notice that The Housekeeper is falling into a familiar pattern. So many lesbian romances in film have already featured major age gaps between two white women (Thurman is 54 years old, while Dynevor is 29) and austere historical settings. Yes, having more gay cinema is fabulous, but where’s the diversity in storytelling?
Still others offered a counterpoint: age gaps are in right now, regardless of sexuality. Just look at the upcoming Nicole Kidman feature Babygirl, where she’s playing opposite rising heartthrob Harris Dickinson, or the new Netflix romance Lonely Planet starring Laura Dern and Liam Hemsworth. Lesbians may already have their fair share of age-gap romances, but that doesn’t mean they can’t ride this wave along with the straights.
after babygirl and lonely planet an age gap w|w romance is the least we deserve thank you
— marie lina ⚢ agathario 🇵🇸 (@enigmartpop) October 28, 2024
Regardless, producer Julia Taylor-Stanley told VarietyThe Housekeeper is expected to hit theaters by the end of 2025. We’ll have to wait until then to see if it lives up to fans’ high hopes.
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