Lonely Planet 2024

Katherine Loewe, a successful and respected writer, travels to a Moroccan resort to finish her latest literary novel. Though she is normally prolific, she finds herself struggling due to a separation from her longtime partner, who is aggressively pushing for her to move out. Owen Brophy, a finance manager, arrives with his girlfriend, Lily Kemp, who is there to participate in a writer’s retreat. While Lily’s novel has released to great critical and financial success, she is intimidated by being in the presence of the famous writers, and asked Owen to travel with her for emotional support.

While Katherine struggles to find a quiet place to write, Lily is greeted warmly by the writers, especially Rafih Abdo, a fan of hers who urges her to take advantage of the retreat. Owen, however, quickly becomes the target of Nobel Prize winner, Ada Dohon, who singles him out for verbal abuse. His isolation is made worse by his demanding job, requiring him to take high-pressure phone calls with a five-hour time difference.

Katherine’s plumbing breaks and she meets Owen while searching for drinking water. Lost, he helps her find her room in the dark. The following day, Lily and the other writers opt to stay at the resort to speak to a reporter, while Owen and Katherine take advantage of a pre-planned excursion to a local town. The two spend the afternoon together sharing insights and observations about travel. Their ride breaks down on the way home, but they are treated by a local family to a home-cooked dinner and recreation, which they both enjoy despite the inconvenience. Upon returning, Owen learns that Lily has started experimenting with hard alcohol and hashish with the other writers; when he shares that he met Katherine, Lily is immediately jealous as she is one of her favorite authors.

Over the next several days, Katherine finds a small utility room to work in while Owen sightsees with Lily, who invites Rafih along to keep her company while Owen takes business calls. While Owen attempts to make Lily happy by supporting her, he is nonetheless humiliated by the writers during a game of charades and belittled by Lily for his lack of literary knowledge. Katherine meets with him afterwards and lifts his spirits by discussing his past successes in sports and commiserating at the difficulty of his job; he, in turn, shares his admiration of her long list of accomplishments, confessing that he “Googled” her, and the two spend the evening sharing personal details.

After Owen contracts food poisoning, Lily departs for several days on an extended excursion into the Sahara. Katherine shares that her partner is leaving because he finds her unbearable while she’s writing a novel; however, Owen encourages her by saying that he appreciates her insight and self-discovery in her process.

After returning, Lily’s drinking and drug use increase, leading her to stumble home several nights naked and high. After a loud argument about it, Owen drinks heavily and makes a pass at Katherine, which she gently rebuffs, citing their age difference. The following morning, Lily attempts to reconcile with Owen, but is interrupted by a text from Rafih, revealing that the two have been carrying on an affair. Owen leaves her, then finds Katherine and asks her to join him on a road trip away from the resort.

Katherine and Owen travel together and become romantically intimate. However, during a trip to a local beach, Katherine’s laptop containing the only copy of her novel is stolen. Having lost two years’ worth of work and angry with herself, she lashes out at Owen, but then departs immediately for New York.

Several months later, Katherine has finished her novel, which has become another success. By coincidence, Owen later runs into her at a downtown bar, greeting her warmly before leaving with his friends. Katherine runs after him, confesses that she tried to find him several times but lacked the courage to follow through and apologizes, stating that she used her writing as a way to keep him in mind and that she read his favorite book to make sense of her feelings. Owen kisses her.