Fox Searchlight has dropped a new international trailer and the first two movie clips for the Sundance hit Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – winner of the Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, and countless rave reviews. The film follows high school student Greg Gaines, a creative and detached teenager who is forced by his mother to befriend Rachel, an acquaintance from school who has been diagnosed with cancer. With the help of his filmmaking partner Earl, they form a bond that teaches him how to break out of his own bubble and be a true friend.
The film was adapted from a novel by author Jesse Andrews, and directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon (Glee). It stars Thomas Mann (Project X) as Greg, Olivia Cooke (TV’s Bates Motel) as Rachel, and RJ Cyler as Earl. They are joined by Connie Britton (TV’s Nashville), Nick Offerman (TV’s Parks and Recreation), and Molly Shannon (Fresno).
The new trailer focuses on Greg’s potential character arc throughout the film. As he reveals in the footage, Greg’s philosophy on the high school social scene is “be on low key good terms with everyone in a way that isn’t visible to everyone else.” This way of living under the radar is interrupted, however, once Rachel is introduced and he must form an attachment with her as well as his only real friend up til then, Earl.
The two new clips expand on Greg’s detachment from the world, specifically with other people. The first clip shows Greg lost within a middle state between his imagination and the real world while Earl explains to Rachel how Greg “has issues” right next to him. The second reveals the odd relationship Greg has with his own mother and father (Britton and Offerman).
Me and Earl and The Dying Girl hits theaters June 12.