There’s no denying that Eddie Redmayne has had a big year: Between the ups (his Best Actor win for The Theory Of Everything), the downs (Jupiter Ascending), and the pending (Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them), the young actor has been everywhere in 2015. Now he’s wrapping up an eventful 12 months in Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, which again puts him in the conversation for Oscar glory. The biopic tells the story of artist Lili Elbe, one of the first people to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Alongside Redmayne’s Elbe is her loving wife, Gerda Wegener, played by Alicia Vikander, wrapping up quite an impressive breakout year herself. The Danish Girl comes to Chicago theaters on December 11, but The A.V. Club and Focus Features have and opportunity for you to see it for free on December 8. For your chance to win a pair of passes to the advance screening, simply follow the link here and enter your information. Remember: Advance screenings are often intentionally overbooked, so be sure to arrive early if you want to guarantee yourself a seat. An official plot synopsis and trailer for the film can be found below.
“In 1926 in Copenhagen, artist Einar Wegener is married to Gerda Wegener and is revered for landscape paintings. Gerda is also an artist, less renowned but steadily working as a portraitist of prominent citizens. Theirs is a strong and loving marriage, yet personal and professional epiphanies have eluded them both. That all begins to change one day when, on deadline for a portrait, Gerda asks her husband to fill in for a model by putting on a dress so that she can finish the painting. The experience is transformative, as Einar soon realizes that being Lili is an expression of her truest self, and she begins living her life as a woman. Gerda unexpectedly finds that she has a new muse, and renewed creative ferment. But the couple soon brush up against society’s disapproval. They leave their homeland for the more open-minded world of Paris. There, it is Gerda’s career that continues to flourish. The couple’s marriage evolves – and not without strain. But again and again Gerda supports Lili during her journey as a transgender woman.”