Idris Elba and Tilda Swinton have mad chemistry in the first official clip for George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing.
The scene in question involves Swinton’s apathetic-yet-“content” protagonist, Dr. Alithea Binnie, arguing about how she could not conjure up three wishes fulfilling her deepest longings because she’s happy about her life as an academic as it is. However, Elba’s character plays a wish-granting magical Djinn who is trying to plead with her to make the wishes in order to win back his freedom.
Not only does the encounter make Alithea question her reality, but she also knows from studying ancient mythologies that situations such as this often serve as cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. According to the official synopsis from an MGM press release,
“The Djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually, she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.”
Miller is a director whose wildly varying filmography perfectly fits a high-budget fantasy tale involving magical wishes. He’s best known for creating and directing the Mad Max franchise, including 2015’s masterpiece Mad Max: Fury Road, and he’s also created box office smashes out of family films, such as directing the computer-animated musical Happy Feet.
Even though it sounds like the premise of a fairy tale, Three Thousand Years of Longing is a movie strictly for grown-ups, as it is rated R for “some sexual content, graphic nudity and brief violence.”
Three Thousand Years of Longing comes to theaters on Aug. 26.
