If there was one major takeaway from the NYFF reviews for 20th Century Women, it’s that while Mike Mills’ latest directorial effort isn’t without its flaws, the nostalgic ’70s drama harbors a potentially award-winning performance from Annette Bening.
She’ll lead an all-star cast in the upcoming picture as single mother Dorothea Fields, and can be seen alongside Greta Gerwig and The Neon Demon‘s Elle Fanning in today’s poignant new trailer. Together, that trio underpins Mills’ narrative, one which chronicles three generations of women who intermingle in 1970s Santa Barbara.
A robust cast – Alien: Covenant‘s Billy Crudup and Lucas Jade Zumann also star – coupled with the film’s idyllic aesthetic have us cautiously optimistic for the Mike Mills drama. Indeed, it marks the filmmaker’s third creative effort after Beginners and Thumbsucker, but the question remains: can 20th Century Women find an audience to call its own late next month? Time will tell.
20th Century Women graces theaters on December 25, and will open against fellow awards contenders in the vein of Gold, NASA drama Hidden Figures and the Denzel Washington-fronted Fences.
Set in Santa Barbara, the film follows Dorothea Fields (Annette Bening), a determined single mother in her mid-50s who is raising her adolescent son, Jamie (newcomer Lucas Jade Zumann, in a breakout performance) at a moment brimming with cultural change and rebellion. Dorothea enlists the help of two younger women in Jamie’s upbringing – Abbie (Greta Gerwig), a free-spirited punk artist living as a boarder in the Fields’ home, and Julie (Elle Fanning), a savvy and provocative teenage neighbor.
