People either absolutely love Brady Corbet’s pop melodrama Vox Lux or, like us at TIFF this past September, couldn’t wait to get out of the goddamn theater because life is way too fucking short to spend it on terrible, self-serious and pretentious garbage like this (it’s like if Southland Tales had no clue how to have fun).
But we’ll keep the opinions to a minimum for a bit, because you now have the chance to see some footage from the Natalie Portman-starring film yourself. Neon dropped the first trailer for the movie on Thursday, and it offers you a pretty good look at what’s in store for you when you see it. So, strap yourself in and get ready to see Connie Britton’s kid on 24‘s opinions on the connections between pop music and terrorism, because that’s what you’re getting with Vox Lux.
Here’s the trailer:
Now we’ll editorialize just for a second: the fact that Portman is receiving Oscar buzz for this is totally and utterly baffling. We get that the whole “substitute ‘Best’ for ‘Most'” truism is generally accurate, but this performance is so miserably disconnected from the film’s intent that it plays as parody for a good amount of it. She’s also not in the movie as much as this trailer wants you to believe, and the fact that she’s being pushed for Supporting Actress might be a big red flag for your expectations. Perhaps its that Neon has had luck with that category in the past, given that Allison Janney won last year, or that the field isn’t as crowded as it might be otherwise in another given year, but we wouldn’t advise you to bet on this taking home any awards.
Here’s a synopsis:
“‘Vox Lux’ begins in 1999 when teenage sisters Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) and Eleanor (Stacy Martin) survive a seismic, violent tragedy. The sisters compose and perform a song about their experience, making something lovely and cathartic out of catastrophe — while also catapulting Celeste to stardom. By 2017, the now 31-year-old Celeste (Natalie Portman) is mother to a teenage daughter of her own and struggling to navigate a career fraught with scandals when another act of terrifying violence demands her attention.”
Vox Lux hits theaters on December 7. There’s a joke in there somewhere.
Featured image via Neon.
