Cast one eye over this year’s roster of budding Oscar contendors and you’ll no doubt locate the likes of La La Land, Fences and the Casey Affleck-led Manchester By the Sea. Together they form they bona fide frontrunners and, truth be told, they’ll take some budging. But outside of those favorites, you’ll find the outliers – the dark horses, a category that makes room for Arrival, Sully and Pablo Larraín’s non-traditional biopic, Jackie.
Pegged for premiere on December 2, Larraín’s starry and oddly timely picture introduces Natalie Portman as the late, great Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, considered to be the “most unknown of the known women of the 20th century.” What we see in today’s full-length trailer is an intimate portrait of Mrs. Kennedy’s life immediately after JFK’s assassination on that fateful day in ’63.
If the shot of Jackie clutching onto the POTUS’ limp body in the motorcade isn’t powerful enough, the scene of a distraught First Lady in the shower really drives home the message that this is Natalie Portman’s vehicle through and through, and we’re excited to see her performance – one that looks to find nuance between vulnerability and steely determination – play out in full. Greta Gerwig, Peter Sarsgaard, Max Casella, Beth Grant, Billy Crudup, Richard E. Grant and John Hurt round out the casting docket.
After jostling for the coveted Golden Lion accolade at Venice Film Festival – Larraín’s feature ultimately lucked out after The Woman Who Left collected the gong – Jackie is expected to grace US theaters on December 2. If you want to go up close and personal with Portman’s former First Lady following today’s new reel of footage, look no further than our TIFF review.
