The annual Sundance Film Festival typically gives people early looks at films that will dominate award season talk later in the year. But it also has a really neat habit of starting the hype machine for excellent small-budget fare that winds up being adored critically and commercially alike.
Dope is one such film. Riding a wave of buzz since it slayed all who saw it at the festival, the film is gearing up for a wide release in June, and we’ve now got our first little sneak peak at what’s in store.
Chock full of internet references – the temptation to use the headline “Dope Movie Trailer Dot Tumblr Dot Com” for this article was sky freaking high, I tell you – we don’t really get much in the way of plot, but we do get a social media filled character cheat sheet, coupled with some neat graphics, a sick soundtrack, and a look at the general feel for the film, which seems like it could share more than a few spiritual similarities with the excellent The Wackness.
The coming-of-age film centres around a geek named Malcolm who lives in a tough neighbourhood in Los Angeles. He struggles with his college applications and ambitions whilst simultaneously embarking on a journey of bad choices, chance encounters and self-discovery whilst finding out who he really is during a time of uncertainty every young kid goes through at one point in their lives.
The cast is ridiculously stacked with youthful talent, with names like Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons, Tony Revolori, Zoë Kravitz, Blake Anderson, A$AP Rocky and Chanel Iman involved, among many others. Forest Whitaker provides the voice of narration for the film.
Written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the film is set for a June 19th release in the United States. No word on any Australian release dates just yet.
