The trailer for Lena Waithe’s 80s music drama, “Beauty,” has been released.
Written and produced by “The Chi” producer and directed by Sundance Film Festival darling Andrew Dosunmu (who also serves as executive producer), the film will premiere on streaming platform Netflix on June 29.
The feature premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
“Beuty” centers on a talented young Black woman who is offered a lucrative record contract but is forced to fight to remain true to herself. There is a “fierce battle: between her family, her record label and her closest friend… but whose guidance will she follow?
Beauty is portrayed by “Grown-ish” star Gracie Marie Bradley.
“Claws” actress, Neicy Nash, stars as her mother. “Do you know what they do to stars? They build you up just so they can tear you down,” Nash asks in the clip, adding that she does not want her daughter to “to be eaten by wolves.”
But Beauty, who is also queer, is determined to succeed, telling her mother, “I just want to use the gift God gave me.”
“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,” programmer Celeste Wong wrote.
Sharon Stone, Giancarlo Esposito, Aleyse Shannon, Gracie Marie Bradley, Kyle Bary and Micheal Ward also star.
The release comes during Pride Month. Waithe, who is openly gay, has made it her mission to ensure that her projects are inclusive of the black and Queer communities.
“I think that the business is still very narrow-minded about how to treat a queer, Black artist. I think they are starting to learn and are becoming more welcoming,” she said in an interview with Indie Wire in 2020. “But I’m privileged in that I am a woman, and I also came into the business as somebody who was already out. It’s not like people thought of me as straight for a while, and then I had to come out. That wasn’t my journey. I never even technically had to come out, because I was already out. But my hope and prayer is that eventually it will not be difficult. Because I want people to be able to feel comfortable to be themselves. To live life victoriously. I definitely think we in the industry could do better. But we’re making strides.”
