Writer Neil Gaiman has had a (mostly) successful track record with film and television adaptations: Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust, the Oscar-nominated Coraline, and more recently, Starz’s American Gods. Now, the soon-to-be released film How to Talk to Girls at Parties, based on Gaiman’s Locus Award-winning short story from 2007, promises to be a bold interpretation of his work.

Directed by John Cameron Mitchell and starring Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, the film, set in 70s South London, follows the budding romance of a young punk (Alex Sharp) and an alien who comes to earth (Fanning). Fanning and Kidman, hot off the heels of their critically-acclaimed performances in Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, promise to deliver uncharacteristically manic performances.

Mitchell, who gained acclaim for writing and directing the cult rock musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch in 2001, fuses the sensibilities of his anarchic roots with a heartwarming fish-out-of-water love story. Although the film received a lukewarm response at Cannes from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, fans of fearlessly inventive cinema and Hedwig will likely be in attendance.

Watch the recently released international trailer below: