Opposites attract storiescan be found everywhere in media. They’re often comedic, heartwarming, and/or deeply moving tales about how people with very different upbringings, personalities, and circumstances can put aside what divides them and come together to form a powerful bond.Guardians of the GalaxystarKaren Gillanis now the latest to take on such a story with her new filmLate Bloomers, a film about a 28-year-old Brooklynite who finds an unlikely friend in an old Polish woman played byMargaret Sophie Stein. Ahead of the film’s day-and-date release next month, Collider is excited to share the official trailer and poster highlighting the budding relationship between the pair as they face the inevitability of aging together.
Late Bloomersstars Gillan as Louise, who is struggling to get by now that she’s newly single and trying to find her voice as a musician in New York,all while battling depression. The trailer begins as things go from bad to worse when drunken escapades lead to her stumbling and breaking her hip, sending her to a physical therapy ward where she is by far the youngest patient. It’s here that she meets the “physical therapy bad girl” Antonina (Stein) when they briefly share a room, though Louise quickly makes an enemy of her with her commentsabout their vastly different ages. When she later sees Antonina walking (or “walkering”) down the street alone, however, she brings the old woman in for the night before returning her to where she lives. Her good deed earns her a job opportunity as Antonina’s new caregiver, a responsibility she reluctantly takes on.
As the film unfolds, Louise and Antonina will slowly bridge the gap between their two worlds. It begins begrudgingly, with Antonina giving death glares and menacingly ramming her walker in a show of disgust. They beginexploring the realities of agingtogether, reflecting on memories from the Polish woman’s life and finding ways to communicate despite speaking different languages. Louise shows Antonina thatshe’s never too old to live it up and that there’s no shame in aging, a lesson that she begins applying to her relationships with her new boyfriend and her father.
Late Bloomersmakes the feature directorial debut ofPlus Oneco-producerLisa Steenwith her usual creative partnerAnna Greenfieldpenning the script. Their film originally debuted atSXSWin 2023 but took until this March to land with a distributor - Vertical Entertainment. It’s a surprisingly long wait for what was otherwise a well-received film that scored a solid 80% from critics onRotten Tomatoes. Collider’sMaggie Lovittgave the film a B+, praising it as a poignant portrait of what women experience when aging and the general dread, grief, and beauty that comes with growing older.
Rounding out the cast forLate BloomersareJermaine Fowler,Kevin Nealon,Talia Balsam, andMichelle Twarowska. The film isdue out in theaters and on digital platforms on June 7. Check out the trailer below and the exclusive new poster above:
