The Starling Trailer: Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd And Kevin Kline Make Will Make You Cry

Netflix's "The Starling" has an all-star cast. Many of them — Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd, and Kevin Kline — are largely known for their comedic talents. If the trailer is any indication, however, this feature is the opposite of a comedy. That doesn't mean it doesn't look good — it just doesn't look full of a lot of laughs.

What the trailer is, is heartbreaking and touching. So much so, in fact, that I cried! What a start to a Wednesday!

I should have been better prepared for a tear-jerker when I saw that Theodore Melfi — director of "Hidden Figures" and "St. Vincent" — also directed this film. Want to see a trailer for a touching story about love, loss, and grief? Get a box of tissues and take a look below.

The Starling Trailer

"The Starling" follows Lilly (McCarthy), a woman who faces a major loss. Netflix's official logline of the show is as follows:

"After Lilly suffers a loss, a battle with a territorial bird (The Starling) over dominion of her garden provides an unlikely avenue for her grief and the courage to heal her relationships and rediscover her capacity for love."

That description is pretty vague, but the trailer fills in some details. The loss Lilly suffers is the death of her daughter, presumably right before or right after her birth. Her husband, Jack (O'Dowd), was so impacted by the loss that he is now in a nice-looking mental institution. Lilly is left effectively alone to deal with her grief, and gets into a fight with a pair of starlings in her backyard (hence, the title of the movie).

A friend refers Lilly to Larry (Kline), a former therapist who is now a veterinarian. Larry is grumpy at first and doesn't want to help, but by the end of the trailer he's working with both Lilly and Jack to help them with their grief and guide them to a loving life after the death of their child.

Such story material is the stuff of comedy! Or not. Though I'm sure — like most good dramas — there will be some comedic moments. In addition to McCarthy, O'Dowd, and Kline, the cast includes Timothy Olyphant, Daveed Diggs, Skyler Gisondo, Loretta Devine, Laura Harrier, Rosalind Chao, and Kimberly Quinn.

Matt Harris wrote the script, and the film is produced by Dylan Sellers, Chris Parker, Theodore Melfi, and Kimberly Quinn.

"The Starling" will open in select theaters on September 17 and drop on Netflix on September 24, 2021.