Writer-director John Cameron Mitchell (Rabbit Hole, Shortbus) is back this year, teaming with author Neil Gaiman, and a cast featuring Elle Fanning, Alex Sharp, Nicole Kidman, and Ruth Wilson. After premiering at Cannes last year, How to Talk to Girls at Parties–following an alien who comes down to Earth and joins the punk scene–will be released by A24 this summer and they’ve unveiled a new trailer.
Featuring glitter, music, dance, and more in 1970s London, not to mention a decked-out extraterrestrial Kidman, it has the makings of a promising feature, but unfortunately we were quite disappointed at Cannes. “If How to Talk to Girls at Parties is what he perceived as a comeback vehicle, Mitchell made an ill-suited choice, as his latest film offers a thinly-sketched culture clash that misses the romanticism of its source material,” we said in our review.
Check out the trailer and poster below.
From the raucous dual imaginations of fantasy laureate Neil Gaiman (“American Gods,” Coraline) and glam-rock multi-hyphenate John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus) comes the electrifying and singular pop extravaganza film, How to Talk to Girls at Parties. Enn (Alex Sharp) is a shy suburban London teenager in 1977, sneaking out with his best friends to after-hours punk parties. One night they stumble upon a bizarre gathering of sexy teenagers who seem like they are from another planet. In fact, they are from another planet, visiting Earth to complete a mysterious rite of passage. That doesn’t stop Enn from falling madly in love with Zan (Elle Fanning), a beautiful and rebellious alien teenager who, despite her allegiance to her strange colony, is fascinated by Enn. Together they embark on a delirious adventure through the kinetic punk rock world of 1970s London, inadvertently setting off a series of events that will lead to the ultimate showdown of punks vs. aliens, and test the limits of how far each of them will go for true love.
How to Talk to Girls at Parties hits U.S. theaters on May 18.