Natalie Portman and Jenna Ortega are turning a gallery opening into a crime scene in the new trailer for The Gallerist. Roadside Attractions released the preview on 5 November, ahead of the dark comedy’s US cinema opening on 4 December.
Portman plays a gallery owner trying to hold on to her place among Miami’s wealthy art crowd after a painful separation. Money is running short, an important debut exhibition is approaching, and a dead body presents an opportunity that no sensible business adviser would recommend.
Set during Art Basel Miami, the film follows her attempt to pass off an accidental corpse as the show’s centrepiece. Ortega plays her assistant, Kiki, as a desperate cover-up becomes a spectacle attracting influencers and police. Apparently, the line between a career-making installation and incriminating evidence is rather thin.
Cathy Yan, who directed Birds of Prey, directs and co-wrote the screenplay with James Pedersen. The ensemble also includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zach Galifianakis, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Sterling K. Brown, Daniel Brühl and Charli XCX.
Following its Sundance premiere in January, The Gallerist is moving from the festival circuit to US cinemas through Roadside Attractions and Vertical. Its December release puts Yan’s satire of status, money and artistic ambition in front of a wider audience.
