HBO has unveiled the first trailer for its prestige limited seriesBig Little Lies. Based on the bestsellingLiane Moriartybook of the same name, the event series starsNicole KidmanandReese Witherspoon, withWildandDallas Buyers ClubhelmerJean-Marc Valléedirecting all seven episodes andDavid E. Kelleywriting and serving as executive producer. The story is a character drama about life, focusing on women, ex-husbands, second wives, and motherhood, and the sprawling story makes a swell fit for the limited series format.
Witherspoon plays Madeline, a passionate and funny woman whose ex-husband and his new wife have moved into her beachside community, where their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest child. Moreover, Madeline’s teen daughter appears to be shifting her allegiance to her father instead of her mother.
Kidman plays Celeste, a woman who, with her husband (Alexander Skarsgård), has her eyes on reigning over the school parent body. And then there’s Jane, played byShailene Woodley, a single mom whose arrival into the beachside community soon results in upheaval.
The trailer promises an intimate but not too self-serious drama aboutpeople, which is certainly a refreshing choice of material—although there looks to be a deadly/dangerous twist involved that possibly ups the stakes for the characters. Vallée’s verite-esque camerawork is on full display here, and while I absolutely adored his work onWild, his most recent featureDemolitionwas an infuriating case of “rich white people problems.” He’s working with beloved source material here, for the prestige network to end all prestige networks, and the cast is stellar, so regardless my hopes are high for this one.
Check out theBig Little Liestrailer below. The series also starsAdamScott,Laura DernandZoë Kravitz.Big Little Lieswill debut on HBO in 2017.
