Entertainment

The 'Lucy In The Sky' Trailer Shows Natalie Portman Out Of The World, Literally

I don't think I would make a very good astronaut. I could easily see myself getting anxious thinking about how vulnerable I am floating thousands of miles from home. I would probably get freaked out looking at how small all of humankind is as it floats on the pale blue dot of Earth. And I most definitely would not enjoy spending months of my life in a space suit. I think being an astronaut would not do good things for my mind, and my hypothesis is not completely unfounded. The Lucy in the Sky trailer shows Natalie Portman as an astronaut whose hold on reality is shaky after spending some time out of this world, literally.

Portman stars as Lucy Cola, an astronaut who grows unhinged after she returns to Earth from a mission in outer space. Along with her precarious hold on life on Earth, Lucy begins an affair with a fellow astronaut name Mark, who's played by Jon Hamm. In a voiceover played during a shot of Lucy and Mark bowling together, Lucy says, "I go up there and see the whole universe and everything here looks so small." You can check out the trailer for the trippy movie below:

The trailer doesn't offer a ton of story details, but what it lacks in plot it certainly makes up for in tone and style. It's dripping in the character's anxiety, from the looming countdown at the start, to the disorienting shots of her in an astronaut suit simply floating. It puts audiences right in Lucy's shoes, and tells fans that those shoes are not steady on the ground.

Lucy in the Sky is loosely based on the true story of Lisa Nowak, an astronaut who in 2007 drove over 900 miles from Houston to Orlando with rope, pepper spray, and space diapers to confront her ex-boyfriend and his new girlfriend. Nowak confronted the girlfriend at Orlando International Airport and was arrested. She ended up pleading guilty and serving a two-year probation, as well as receiving an "other than honorable" discharge from the Navy. There's no solid hint that the main character in Lucy in the Sky will follow the exact same path as her inspiration. But the end of the trailer definitely hints at some darkness to come, even as Lucy tells an off-screen character that she's "fine." One look in her eyes and you can tell she is certainly not fine.

The film is directed by Noah Hawley, who created the TV series Fargo and Legion. In addition to Portman and Hamm, the movie stars Ellen Burstyn, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, and Pearl Amanda Dickson. Portman previously won an Academy Award for her performance in 2010's Black Swan. She plays a similarly unhinged character in Black Swan, so Lucy is right in her wheelhouse and could possibly provide Portman with her second Oscar.

Even with a trailer that offers little info, fans are already excited about Lucy in the Sky:

There's no announced release date yet, Lucy in the Sky is set to come out in theaters later this year.