Leos Carax, the director known for his eccentric 2012 fantasy film Holy Motors, has not released a feature film in nearly a decade. That’s about to change with Annette, an avant-garde musical drama starring Adam Driver (Paterson) and Marion Cotillard (Inception). A new trailer announces the film’s upcoming theatrical premiere, Aug. 6, as well as its streaming release, Aug. 20 on Amazon Prime Video.
Set in modern day Los Angeles, Annette focuses on the story of Henry (Driver), a stand-up comedian with “a fierce sense of humor” and Ann (Cotillard), a world-renowned opera singer. The pair fall in love with each other and have a child, Annette, a mysterious girl with an “exceptional destiny.”
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Image: Cannes
The trailer boasts loads of luxurious mood lighting, inexplicable cutaway shots of howling wolves, Henry cradling his newborn child in one hand while doing yoga and smoking a cigarette in the other, and songwriter Russell Mael leading a jam session. Y’know, exactly the kind of artful oddball weirdness you’d expect from the man behind Holy Motors.
The story and music come courtesy of Ron and Russell Mael, the American pop rock duo known as The Sparks. The film is currently set to open this year’s Cannes Film Festival and, if the festival’s reception to Carax’s last feature is any indication, we’re probably in for one of the year’s most adventurous cinematic oddities.