Overview
One of today's most exciting directors adapts one of the great novels of the past two centuries, all with a lineup of stars that should make all other movies envious. That's the new version of Little Women in a nutshell. Greta Gerwig writes, directs and takes inspiration from Louisa May Alcott's classic of the same name, while Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, Timothée Chalamet and Bob Odenkirk all feature among the cast.
After nabbing Oscar nominations and widespread acclaim for Lady Bird, her solo filmmaking debut, Gerwig once again turns her attention to the trials and tribulations of young women. It's clearly a topic of great interest to the actor-turned-writer/director. She co-wrote Frances Ha and Mistress America with Noah Baumbach (as well as starring in them both), and did the same with her first joint stint behind the camera, Nights and Weekends, which she co-directed with Joe Swanberg.
If you haven't read the book, or perhaps you just need a refresher, Little Women steps into the lives of the March family in 1860s New England in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It's a time when gender roles are clearly demarcated, but that isn't going to stop the spirited Jo (Ronan) from chasing her dreams — while her sisters Meg (Watson), Amy (Pugh, worlds away from Midsommar) and Beth (Australian actress Eliza Scanlen, who started her career on Home and Away) all have their own plans for their futures.
Dern plays their mother, Streep pops up as the girls' aunt, and Chalamet once again has his sights set on Ronan, as he did in Lady Bird.
This marks the eighth big-screen adaptation of Little Women, with Gillian Armstrong's 1994 film — starring Winona Ryder, Kirsten Dunst, Claire Danes, Susan Sarandon and Christian Bale — the most recent version of note.
Watch the first trailer for Gerwig's take on the tale below:
Little Women releases in Australian cinemas on January 1, 2020.