The World To Come: Vanessa Kirby leads ‘intense’ lesbian drama about 19th century lovers trapped in controlling marriages
Vanessa Kirby stars opposite Katherine Waterston in The World To Come. (YouTube)
A new trailer for The World To Come gives a first look at Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston as married women having a lesbian affair in the 19th century.
Kirby, who played Princess Margaret in the first two seasons of The Crown, stars opposite Katherine Waterston in the film, which follows two women falling in love in the American Northeast.
The powerful trailer, released on Thursday (14 January), follows Abigail (Waterson), a lonely farmer’s wife living in solitude with her husband in 1856 – but the arrival of Tallie (Kirby) to the area changes everything.
The women, trapped in marriages with emotionally absent and controlling husbands, develop a friendship that quickly transforms into a powerful romance.
However, their relationship is threatened as their husbands become increasingly suspicious of the true nature of their relationship.
The husbands, played by Casey Affleck and Christopher Abbott, become increasingly jealous and aggressive in their attempts to suppress their wives’ intimate bond.
Vanessa Kirby has won praise for her role in The World to Come.
The World to Come premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in September 2020, where it won the Queer Lion award for the best LGBT+ themed film.
Queer fil fans have been anxiously anticipating the release of the lesbian film ever since – and it is finally set to be released through on-demand streaming platforms on 2 March.
The World to Come quickly garnered quickly garnered critical acclaim following its September 2020 debut, with Variety calling it an “intensely moving romance”. The review described Kirby as a “life-breathing force” in the film, saying she is “duly magnetic without giving in to whirling free-spirit cliché”.
Speaking about the film following its debut, director Mona Fastvold told IndieWire in September 2020 that the film is simply about “normal women”.
“There’s nothing special to look at in their story: they meet, have a connection, fall in love,” she said – but she saw an opening to tell the story and to capture its “sheer beauty”.
“I haven’t really seen this before; I can take this classic love story, I can break open part of it, and do something with it,” Fastvold explained.
