'Lucy In The Sky' Trailer: Natalie Portman Has Trouble Adjusting To Life On Earth

Astronaut Natalie Portman discovers life on Earth is a lot more complicated than life in space in the new Lucy in the Sky trailer. Legion creator Noah Hawley directs this curious-looking drama, based loosely on the true story of astronaut Lisa Nowak. Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, Colman Domingo, Nick Offerman, and Ellen Burstyn also star. Watch the Lucy in the Sky trailer below.

What an odd trailer this is. Lucy in the Sky remains something of a mystery – the trailers are vague, bordering on the surreal. And I'm particularly fascinated by the constantly shifting aspect ratio on display in this latest trailer.

In Lucy in the Sky, Portman plays "Lucy Cola, a strong woman whose determination and drive as an astronaut take her to space, where she's deeply moved by the transcendent experience of seeing her life from afar. Back home as Lucy's world suddenly feels too small, her connection with reality slowly unravels." The film is said to be very loosely inspired by the story of astronaut Lisa Nowak, who was charged with attempted kidnapping and attempted first-degree murder with a deadly weapon after she targeted U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman, who had become romantically involved with Nowak's ex-lover, astronaut William Oefelein. I'm not entirely sure how much of Nowak's story will influence the film, but based on the trailer, I'm guessing any similarities will be minimal – unless they're keeping it very hush-hush. There is a quick shot of Portman stocking up on potential weapons at a hardware store – something Nowak did before her own attempted crimes.

Lucy in the Sky will be playing at TIFF next month, and the official TIFF page for the film describes it as "an audacious psychodrama shaded with humor and permeated by mesmerizing and memorable imagery." The TIFF page also confirms that the shifting aspect ratio in the trailer is part of the film itself.

This is a Fox Searchlight flick, which also means it's a Disney movie as well. It's interesting that both this and the upcoming Ad Astra are both audacious-looking Fox Searchlight space-driven holdovers that ended up in Disney's lap. I'm sure somewhere in the Disney offices, someone suggested digitally inserting an Avenger or two into one of these movies to make them more "marketable." Because that's where the state of the movie industry is right now.

Lucy in the Sky blasts off October 4, 2019.