The cozy months are coming, and with them the promise of heart-warming romantic comedies to laugh and cry to — the perfect balm to spooky season. In the brand-new full trailer for Shekhar Kapur's (Elizabeth) upcoming cross-cultural rom-com, What's Love Got to Do With It?, that's exactly what stars Lily James and Shazad Latif deliver. The film will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10.
From the producers of Bridget Jones's Diary and Love Actually, What's Love Got to Do With It? follows Zoe (James), a documentarian searching for her next project, and her childhood friend and neighbor Kazim (Latif), who's been recently engaged in an assisted marriage. Kapur's new romantic comedy will examine what is love, actually, and is there a "right" way to find it? When Kaz reveals his new engagement to Zoe, she's taken aback by the prospect of having your partner chosen for you by family. It doesn't seem to occur to Zoe that her own way of finding love — numerous dating apps and plenty of mismatches — isn't quite working out for her. When Zoe pitches her best friend's love life as the subject for her next documentary, she follows Kaz through the stages of his engagement, wondering if maybe she doesn't have more to learn from love.
The trailer is full of the optimistic brightness of a wintry love story. The music is uplifting as it comically shows snippets of Zoe's bleak dating life before we see the two friends hanging out in an old tree house, where Kaz first announces his engagement. Immediately Zoe is excited for him, but falters when he tells her it's an arranged, or assisted as "we call it these days," affair. She later poses the question, "What about love?" and casually compares the notion of an assisted marriage to Stockholm Syndrome, before we see her bringing this idea to her bosses at work, throwing out ideas like "Love Contractually." The set-up is lighthearted and presented in a comical manner, but it's clear there's a lot to be learned.
As the trailer goes on, we see Kaz meeting his bride for the first time over the internet while Zoe documents everything, remaining critical. Both parties of the engagement are nervous, and as the wedding in Pakistan grows closer the tension between the two friends begins to thicken. When Zoe questions Kaz's comittment to his marriage he points out that she isn't exactly the pinnacle of relationship gurus.
James has made a name for herself in Hollywood since her breakout starring role in Disney's live action Cinderella in 2015, following her recurring role as Rose MacClare on the hit British historical series Downton Abbey. She went on to star in films like Baby Driver and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, and the Hulu series Pam & Tommy. Latif has become a fan-favorite with roles in a number of hit series such as Showtime's Penny Dreadful, Star Trek: Discovery, Netflix's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, as well as a range of films like The Second Best Exoctic Marigold Hotel and The Commuter with Liam Neeson.
Latif, Thompson and James are joined in the cast by Shabana Azmi (Halo) as Aisha Khan, Sajal Ali (Mom) as Maymouna, Asim Chaudhry (The Sandman), Taj Atwal (Memory), Jeff Mirza (Eternals), Mim Shaikh, Iman Boujelouah, Mariam Haque and Sindhu Vee. What's Love Got to Do With It? is written by writer and producer Jemima Khan, and directed by BAFTA-winner Kapur who's best known for his tense and stylistic films Elizabeth and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age, both starring Cate Blanchett.
While there's no official release date, What's Love Got to Do With It? will be hitting theaters soon.You can watch the full trailer and read the official synopsis below:
How do you find lasting love in today’s world? For documentary-maker and dating app addict Zoe (Lily James), swiping right has only delivered an endless stream of Mr Wrongs, to her eccentric mother Cath’s (Emma Thompson) dismay. For Zoe’s childhood friend and neighbour Kaz (Shazad Latif), the answer is to follow his parents’ example and opt for an arranged (or “assisted”) marriage to a bright and beautiful bride from Pakistan. As Zoe films his hopeful journey from London to Lahore to marry a stranger, chosen by his parents, she begins to wonder if she might have something to learn from a profoundly different approach to finding love.