We’ve had to wait since last year – the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, in fact – for more word on Waltz With Bashir director Ari Folman’s psychedelic follow-up, The Congress. With a confirmed UK release date at last in place, the new trailer for the film has arrived. Prepare to follow Robin Wright into a strange new world…
Wright plays a version of herself, initially in the real world, being offered the contract of a lifetime, one that will also be her last. Miramount Studios and creepy executive Jeff (Danny Huston) want to motion capture the actress and sample every possible facet of her personality. The company will then retain the right to use her image in any media form it chooses, while the real Wright retires, the contract giving her the funds she needs to care for her son (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who is slowly going blind.
The story then jumps 20 years ahead to a time when the synthetic Robin is a huge star and her contract is up for renewal. Things become even weirder when Wright’s drawn into a strange, animated world called The Future Congress, where humanity is replaced by animated avatars and her links to what she thought was reality begin to disintegrate. Oh, and it keeps getting weirder still, but in a good way.
Our Cannes Guru Damon Wise liked the film when he saw it last year and we’ll finally all have the chance to experience it when The Congress arrives on August 15.