Steven Spielberg has always worn his heart on his sleeve, but he’s never made a movie about himself. With The Fabelmans, he still hasn’t. But it’s as close as he’s going to get. His latest is the story of a young boy growing up in post-WWII Arizona, falling in love with movies, and dealing with family drama, as the real Spielberg did at that age. And the first trailer promises to rip your heart out,
The Fabelmans, which made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, tells of Sammy Fabelman, played first by Mateo Zoryna as a kid, then by Gabriel LaBelle as a teenager. Michelle Williams plays his pianist mother; Paul Dano his computer engineer dad. If you know about Spielberg’s life — or have seen the errant fathers in so many of his movies — you know the story won’t be only heartwarming.
You can also see plenty of footage of a doe-eyed, enraptured young Spielberg stand-in gawking slackjawed at a big movie theater screen, even if one of the films is the much-hated Best Picture winner The Greatest Show on Earth. There’s images of Sammy making his first amateur movies, and though there’s no David Lynch (playing legendary filmmaker John Ford), you get glimpses of Seth Rogen, playing his beloved surrogate uncle, and the mighty Judd Hirsch, as an actual uncle.
The Fabelmans hits theaters on November 11. You can watch the trailer above.
