I wasn’t able to attend the Sundance Film Festival this past January, and one of the movies I was bummed to miss was Miguel Arteta’s BEATRIZ AT DINNER, which just premiered its first trailer.
Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek stars as the title character, a kind Mexican immigrant who has made it her life’s work to heal people in Los Angeles. When she meets self-satisfied billionaire Doug Strutt (John Lithgow) at a fancy dinner party, their worlds collide, promising that neither will ever be the same.
That sounds like a pretty juicy premise, especially in the hands of screenwriter Mike White, whose Chuck & Buck was a masterpiece of dark comedy.
There’s a lot of “Trump era” talk surrounding Beatriz at Dinner given how it tackles issues of race and class head-on, but let’s be clear — this film was made long before Trump was inexplicably voted President, so however timely its politics, they’re purely coincidental.
Chloë Sevigny, Connie Britton, Jay Duplass and David Warshofsky co-star in the film, which Roadside Attractions will release in theaters on June 9. This is one dinner for which I’ll be sure to RSVP.
Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief
