What happens when a woman of logic and reason has all of her beliefs thrown aside by mystical forces she can’t possibly understand? That’s one of the questions swirling around George Miller’s anticipated epic fantasy romance, Three Thousand Years of Longing, starring Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba.
Just a couple of days after the first teaser footage arrived, a full trailer is here that reveals Swinton as Dr. Alithea Binnie, a brilliant woman whose life of logic is tossed upside down when she encounters a Djinn played by Elba. The Djinn offers her three wishes that will all come true and secure his freedom. But, she is a smart, well-read woman, and knows all too well the potential cost of such bargains.
The film is Miller’s first since 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. He co-wrote the screenplay with Augusta Gore, based on A.S. Byatt’s short story.
Three Thousand Years of Longing hits theaters on August 31st, but it will premiere later this month at Cannes.
Dr Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) is an academic – content with life and a creature of reason. While in Istanbul attending a conference, she happens to encounter a Djinn (Idris Elba) who offers her three wishes in exchange for his freedom.
This presents two problems. First, she doubts that he is real and second, because she is a scholar of story and mythology, she knows all the cautionary tales of wishes gone wrong. The Djinn pleads his case by telling her fantastical stories of his past. Eventually she is beguiled and makes a wish that surprises them both.
