Richard Gere looks back (in time) to Jacob Elordi in first Oh, Canada trailer

Awards season may have begun in earnest last week with the announcement of this year’s Gotham Award nominees, but most of us haven’t even seen all the films that will be vying for statues come spring. We still have a lot of contenders to come, including The Brutalist, Gladiator II, and Paul Schrader’s Oh, Canada, which just dropped its first trailer today. 

The film, which sees Schrader reunite with American Gigolo star Richard Gere for the first time in 40 years, is a fitting look backward for a filmmaker in the later stages of his career. (But don’t worry—he has no plans to slow down any time soon.) Gere stars as Leonard Fife, a documentary filmmaker who grants one last extended interview to his old student, Malcolm (Michael Imperioli), after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. 

“You don’t know any of it,” Fife tells his wife and artistic partner, Emma (Uma Thurman), before launching into his tale. Jacob Elordi stars as a young Fife in the filmmaker’s flashbacks, as he recalls the thornier aspects of running to Montreal to evade the Vietnam draft, marrying, having a child, getting divorced, and eventually becoming a celebrated artist. “His successes are held up against his failings and, as the man is cleansed of the myth, Leonard must confront what is left,” the film’s synopsis reads.

While Gere signed onto the film first, Schrader was quick to nab Elordi just based on his performance in Euphoria alone. (The younger actor hadn’t yet starred in Saltburn or Priscilla.) “We got him (Elordi) for a dime and nickel for that reason,” Schrader told The Hollywood Reporter last month. “I didn’t need a name. I had Richard and that was enough. But I saw his performance on Zoom and, if this was 40 years ago, this is the guy I would have cast for American Gigolo.” 

Oh, Canada premieres December 8 in theaters.