Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling dream big in the beautiful new trailer for La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash follow-up that has fast emerged as one of this year’s Oscar frontrunners.
Our glowing TIFF review stands by that sentiment, wherein our own Darren Ruecker deemed La La Land to be a “throwback and also like something we’ve never seen before, resulting in a dreamy musical that hits just about every note.” That’s something that really shines through in today’s international trailer, while there’s also a batch of appropriately dreamy new stills, which, when put together, make a good case for Chazelle’s musical to score highly when the time comes for the Academy to select its candidates for Best Cinematography.
Spectacular visuals aside, the core story of La La Land orbits around Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress struggling to get her foot in the door. The Los Angeles movie scene is a cutthroat work environment, and it’s only when Stone’s co-lead crosses paths with Gosling’s jazz musician Sebastian that the pair find a renewed drive to pursue their dreams.
Not all goes according to plan, however, as up above we see Mia and Sebastian’s relationship put to the sword once they begin to make some headway in the music scene. There’s no doubting Stone and Gosling’s at-times-electric chemistry – you can thank Crazy, Stupid, Love for that – but will La La Land prove to be more than just a pretty face? Whiplash star J.K. Simmons, John Legend, Finn Wittrock, Sonoya Mizuno, and Rosemarie DeWitt round out the casting docket.
Expect La La Land to make its theatrical debut on December 2 before Chazelle’s musical ensemble expands nationwide on December 16.
