As I discussed on my list of the top 10 must-see summer movies that you may not know about yet, Me & Earl & the Dying Girl has the distinction of indie darling knockout on lockdown. The tragicomic coming-of-age dramedy was one of the most buzzed-about titles at Sundance, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Drama and the Audience Award, also earning five stars from WGTC critic Dominic Mill. Now, as Fox Searchlight prepares for its June release, the studio has dropped a new trailer teasing all the humor and heartbreak audiences can look forward to.
Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon, the pic follows a film-obsessed high school senior (Thomas Mann, delivering a star-making performance) who makes movies with his best friend Earl (RJ Cycler). When their classmate Rachel (Olivia Cooke, of Bates Motel fame) is diagnosed with cancer, the pair are arm-twisted into spending more time with her by their parents. Soon, though, all three form a unique bond, and the two film aficionados decide to make a movie for the dying girl.
The inclusion of Milky Chance and Imagine Dragons in this trailer cements Me & Earl & the Dying Girl‘s teen appeal, but this is by no means a calculated effort. The film has a genuinely sweet and moving tenor, and I strongly recommend checking it out when it makes its way into theater on June 12.
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL is the uniquely funny, moving story of Greg (Thomas Mann), a high school senior who is trying to blend in anonymously, avoiding deeper relationships as a survival strategy for navigating the social minefield that is teenage life. He even describes his constant companion Earl (RJ Cyler), with whom he makes short film parodies of classic movies, as more of a ‘co-worker’ than a best friend. But when Greg’s mom (Connie Britton) insists he spend time with Rachel (Olivia Cooke) – a girl in his class who has just been diagnosed with cancer – he slowly discovers how worthwhile the true bonds of friendship can be.
