A first look at "Cute" has arrived, giving audiences a glimpse of a romantic comedy that appears determined to dismantle the very genre it occupies. The trailer for director Alexandre Lehmann's English-language feature debuted ahead of the film's premiere at the San Sebastian Film Festival, where it will screen as part of the Basque event's lineup.
The film poses a deceptively simple question at its center: what would you do if you could travel into your loved ones' past, heal their traumas, fix their problems, and reshape them into the perfect partner? That premise drives what the filmmakers describe as a wildly inventive deconstruction of the romantic comedy, one that folds science fiction into a familiar boy-meets-girl framework.
A Genre Mashup With an Unusual Hook
"Cute" blends comedy, romance and science fiction across a brisk 90-minute runtime, positioning itself as something more subversive than the standard studio rom-com. Rather than treating romantic partnership as a destination, the film appears to interrogate the impulse to control or optimize the people we love - a premise that lends itself to both laughs and uncomfortable questions.
Lehmann directs from a concept that leans into its speculative elements. The time-travel device at the heart of the story isn't treated as mere plot machinery; it's the engine that lets the film examine how much of a relationship is genuine connection and how much is projection, negotiation or wishful thinking.
The project's Hollywood backing places it within the American independent-adjacent space, where genre-blurring comedies have found receptive audiences in recent years. Its original language is English.
Cuoco and Davidson Lead an Ensemble Cast
Kaley Cuoco stars as Sheila, with Pete Davidson playing Gary. The pairing brings together two performers known for comic timing - Cuoco from her extensive television work, Davidson from his sketch and stand-up background - in roles that appear to require both broad humor and moments of emotional vulnerability.
The supporting cast includes Deborah S. Craig as June, Sierra Fisk as Sandra, and Wesley Holloway as Young Gary, suggesting the film will spend time in its protagonist's earlier life. Rock Kohli appears as Amit, Hari Nef plays Chai, and Kevin Corrigan takes on the role of Phil the Bartender - a character name that hints at the kind of barstool confessions and late-night conversations that often anchor romantic comedies.
That the cast list includes a younger version of Gary reinforces the film's structure: audiences should expect to move between timelines or memories, watching a character's history get rearranged in real time.
San Sebastian Provides a Launchpad
The trailer's release is timed to the San Sebastian Film Festival premiere, a platform that has increasingly served as a springboard for genre-crossing titles seeking international attention. For a film with a high-concept hook and recognizable stars, a festival debut can generate the kind of word-of-mouth that traditional marketing struggles to manufacture.
"Cute" carries a release date of September 21, 2022, placing it roughly four years before the current moment and giving it a settled position in the marketplace rather than a forthcoming one. Its TMDb rating sits at 5.9 out of 10, reflecting a mixed reception from that platform's user base - a score that suggests the film's unconventional approach divided viewers even as it intrigued them.
What the Trailer Signals
Details beyond the logline remain deliberately withheld, but the trailer's arrival ahead of the premiere indicates the filmmakers are leaning into the film's central provocation rather than softening it. The question of whether you would change a partner if you could is not a comfortable one, and "Cute" seems uninterested in offering an easy answer.
Whether that ambition translates into a coherent 90 minutes is the question San Sebastian audiences will be first to answer. For now, "Cute" arrives as a curiosity: a romantic comedy that seems to distrust romance, a science fiction story more interested in emotional mechanics than gadgets, and a star vehicle that asks its leads to play against the usual rhythms of the form.
The trailer is out now, and the film's festival premiere puts it in front of an audience primed for exactly this kind of tonal gamble.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
