Netflix just dropped the trailer for a new film that looks to be of serious interest to anyone invested in the intersection of queer life and the music industry.
Set in 1980s New Jersey, Beauty is described as following a “young singer on the brink of a promising career [who] finds herself torn between a domineering family, industry pressures and her love for her girlfriend.”
The trailer provides a restrained, dramatic look into the beginning of Beauty’s career, from her signing her first contract and subsequently trying to figure out how to balance who she is with who the world wants her to be.
“Do you know what they do to stars?” her mother, played by out actor Niecy Nash, says at one point. “They build you up just so they can tear you down.
Grace Marie Bradley takes the eponymous role in the movie, which was written by Lena Waithe, directed by Andrew Dosunmu, and also stars Aleyse Shannon, Giancarlo Esposito, and Sharon Stone.
The film premiered at Tribeca over the weekend, with programmer Celeste Wong writing, “Beauty’s journey is as much her own story as it is an homage to her idols, honoring legendary Black female powerhouse vocalists like Patti Labelle and Whitney Houston… this stunning period drama poetically highlights a story of love, identity, and familiar pressure with exquisite artistry and depth.”
Beauty still has one more screening scheduled for the film festival, and will hit Netflix on June 29.
