Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor Pandemic-Film ‘Locked Down’ Drops Trailer

HBO Max has dropped its first, and presumably final, trailer for it’s pandemic-heist film now titled Locked Down. The film is directed by Doug Liman and stars Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

This film was shot in September and October under strict COVID-19 guidelines.  It was subsequently picked up by Warner Media and announced to be put on HBO Max in December. Now a trailer has dropped with a surprisingly early release date. In the totality, the film was written, produced, and distributed in less than a year.

The story follows a couple, Linda(Hathaway) and Paxton (Ejiofor), in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdowns that were prolific around the world earlier last year. In a bid to change their recent bouts of arguments, the duo plan to rob Harrods, one of the most prestigious department stores in all of London.

The trailer shows off the utter turmoil both Paxton and Linda are in during the start of the pandemic, and how that has affected their relationship. It does a nice job of putting the audience in that same mindset from early March.

However, the trailer already feels somewhat outdated. There is a joke about someone taking too much toilet paper and a ton of Zoom calls. While it is pretty incredible that this film has even been made, there is a certain fatigue to the repetitive pandemic jokes that everyone told during the beginning of the pandemic and throughout the last ten months.

Though, it is a good idea to release this movie as soon as possible because there will be plenty of pandemic-inspired films after this real pandemic is over. Plus the trailer is engaging and the idea of a heist film set during this time is a lot of fun. Steven Knight wrote the script, while long-time action director Doug Liman helmed the film. In addition to Hathaway and Ejiofor the film also stars Stephen Merchant, Mindy Kaling, Lucy Boynton, Dulé Hill, Jazmyn Simon, Ben Stiller, and Ben Kingsley. Some of whom appear on video calls in the trailer.

Locked Down is available to stream on January 14,2021 exclusively on HBO Max.