Movies arrive at the Sundance Film Festival every year pulling out all the stops to try to grab the audience's attention, from outlandish plots to lavish premiere parties to simply casting as many celebrities as possible in a single film. But when Mark Webber's debut feature The End Of Love captured critics at last year's festival, it wasn't through any gimmicks, but the sheer power of the film's heartfelt story.
Webber stars, alongside his real-life son Isaac, as an actor named "Mark Webber" who's pretty similar to the real-life guy, but with some key differences. The movie's Webber is struggling a little harder as an actor than a real one, and despite going to parties with the likes of Michael Cera and Aubrey Plaza, he struggles to get gigs, pay rent, or connect to anyone after the death of his ex-girlfriend (and Isaac's mom). An encounter with a woman (Shannyn Sossamon) who's entirely outside the movie industry, though, might change all that. Watch how it happens in the brand-new trailer, both embedded below and available in HD at Apple:
If you're noticing an unusually natural screen presence from little Isaac, that's no coincidence. Webber uses the real-life father and son relationship to great effect in the movie, interacting with Isaac as naturally as he would if the cameras were off, and establishing a really beautiful portrait of how a father and son interact with each other when there's no mom around. The End of Love isn't as emotionally devastating as you might fear from this trailer, but it's pretty close, so if you're up for having your heart rubbed raw, you can see it for yourself in theaters starting March 1.
