Jacob Elordi and Richard Gere play the same man in the upcoming movie Oh, Canada.
The star-studded drama is written and directed by Paul Schrader (First Reformed) and adapted from the book Foregone by Russell Banks. In it, legendary filmmaker Leonard Fife (Gere) sets out to tell his sordid life story in his dying days.
Desperate to be heard, Leonard agrees to do an interview with his former student Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), in which he recalls stories of his younger self (Elordi) while demanding his wife Emma (Uma Thurman) stay at his side.
Richard Gere in ‘Oh, Canada’.
Northern Lights Films
“His successes are held up against his failings and, as the man is cleansed of the myth, Leonard must confront what is left,” the synopsis teases.
In the trailer, shared exclusively with PEOPLE, Malcolm says that his documentary will record Leonard’s life from “his arrival in Canada as a draft refugee through your career as a filmmaker.”
Jacob Elordi and Richard Gere in the ‘Oh, Canada’ poster.
Beginning, Leonard takes them back to 1968 in West Virginia, where his younger self is expecting a baby with his partner. But while the aging man continues, his story grows convoluted as he floats through his different romantic trysts and times of his life.
“He’s mixing things together,” Malcolm points out to Emma and his crew. “Memories, films, fantasies, other people’s stories.”
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Jacob Elordi in ‘Oh, Canada’.
Northern Lights Films
Parallels between the current Leonard and his younger self are made throughout the trailer, showing Elordi and Gere in identical lighting, poses and locations, as the character struggles through his recollections and inflicts pain and confusion on his loved ones.
“When you have no future, all you have left is your past,” Leonard says in a voiceover at the end of the trailer.
Richard Gere and Uma Thurman in ‘Oh Canada’.
Northern Lights Films
The intimate movie sees Schrader and Gere reuniting for the first time since the seminal work American Gigolo in 1980, after which the writer-director went on to helm movies Light Sleeper and First Reformed while Gere found success in the romantic comedy drama with Pretty Woman.
Prior to Oh, Canada, Schrader adapted Banks’ 1989 novel Affliction into a movie starring Sissy Spacek, James Coburn and Willem Defoe.
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The new work had its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival in October where Thurman shared her excitement to work with the famed director during a panel discussion.
“I mean, Paul Schrader!” Thurman said at the time. “I’m a really big fan of Paul Schrader. So to get to contribute, to lend myself to his piece, and get to see him working was a real, real privilege.”
Oh, Canada is in theaters December 6.
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