Given his experimental roots, that Steven Soderbergh would take advantage of the many distribution opportunities streaming affords isn’t a surprise. He’s worked with Netflix on both High Flying Bird and The Laundromat, one of those shot on an Iphone; and even headed to Quibi where he produced the thriller series Wireless. And now with Let Them All Talk, Soderbergh has partnered with HBO Max on a reunion with his ‘Laundromat’ star, Meryl Streep, on a film that is anything but conventional.
As seen in the new trailer, Streep stars as an acclaimed novelist who goes on a cruise with a couple of old friends and her nephew to have a bit of fun and reconnect. Inevitably, old wounds come to the surface as the author also struggles with a manuscript the literary world is anxiously awaiting.
This is a chatterbox film but the script by Deborah Eisenberg isn’t so much a screenplay as scenarios for the actors to improvise their way through. Fortunately, those actors are Dianne Wiest, Candice Bergen, Gemma Chan, and Lucas Hedges.
Soderbergh and HBO have a long and successful history, going back to “Behind the Candelabra,” and Cinemax’s “The Knick. It’s no wonder they’ve agreed on a brand new 3-year exclusive deal.
Let Them All Talk hits HBO Max on December 10th.
