Adam Driver, Greta Gerwig, and Noah Baumbach strike again. Can we call this the new Holy Trinity? Netflix has unveiled the new trailer for the trio’s latest creation, White Noise, based on Don DeLillo’s novel of the same name.
The goal in the movie, at least in the teaser, is to keep the children safe. Jack (Driver) and his wife, Babette (Gerwig), are driving with their kids as the world is facing catastrophe. The “Airborne Toxic Event” is shifting everything humans have come to expect.
“I want to know how scared I should be,” Jack’s youngest daughter says, looking at the cars of other families around her. Some are panicking. Others are laughing, completely ignoring the world’s events.
Though the book is much different, Netflix has wasted no time marketing White Noise like their incredibly popular fantasy series Stranger Things. The music sounds identical. And the trailer bounces off the same 1980’s aesthetic—though the exact era for the plot hasn’t totally been revealed, it looks like it takes place in the same year as the book was released, 1985. Just check out those visors and Greta Gerwig’s curly mop of hair.
Fans have, indeed, noticed the similarities (again, Netflix is doing a great job at roping in fans of the series to watch the film)—but the actual book White Noise is based on bears no resemblance to Stranger Things. The story follows Jack, a professor of Hitler studies who has to save his wife Babette and four children/step-children from chemical traces oozing around his neighborhood after a train crash.
Baumbach has worked with Driver (his filmmaking partner) and Gerwig (his life partner) on a number of occasions prior to White Noise. Driver starred in Marriage Story, The Meyerowitz Stories, and While We’re Young, while Gerwig appeared in Mistress America and Greenberg. The pair shared the screen in Frances Ha. Further, Baumbach and Gerwig shared screenplay duties on the highly anticipated Barbie movie.
Needless to say, White Noise is a family affair. After debuting at nearly every film festival imaginable (Venice, New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival), White Noise will land on Netflix later this year.
