Magnolia Pictures has released the first trailer and poster forPermanent. This indie comedy is set in theearly 80’sin small town Virginia and “Perms” are all the rage. 13-year Aurelie dreams about getting one to finally fit in at her new school but when her clueless parents bring her to a hairdressing academy to save a few bucks, things go incredibly wrong. This is the story about adolescence, socially awkward family members and bad hair.
Bad hair day? Nope! More like a bad hair life. Set in 1982 in small town Virginia,Permanentcenters around 13-year-old Aurelie Dickson (Kira McLean) and her parents, Jeanne and Jim (Patricia Arquette and Rainn Wilson). In this hilariously awkward and unique telling full of wit and wisdom of a hairstylegone wrong, the Dicksons are struggling through major life changes together all the while trying desperately to emerge intact on the other side. For the Dicksons family, just getting through the day is a win.
While Auriele is hoping for life-changing curly waves, when her parents take her to a Beauty School instead of a salon to save money, disaster ensues. A bored Student-Beautician accidentally sets the timer for too long, and the perm ends up destroying Aurelie’s already low-grade social life as well as her hair follicles. Aurelie is left as a gawky yet endearingyoung teenagertrying to navigate junior high with her afro-like hairstyle, while her peers throw everything at her from epithets to dodgeballs. Magnolia has set a December 15 release date, which puts it in quite an unenviable release position.
WhilePermanentis only expected to debut in limited release on December 15 (also released day-and-date on VOD formats such as Amazon Video and iTunes), that is also the same day that Disney and LucasFilm will roll outStar Wars: The Last Jedi, which is expected to be the biggest box office blockbuster of the year. Also hitting theaters in wide release that day is 20th Century Fox’s animated comedyFerdinand, withPermanentcurrently slated as the only film in limited release. While it surely won’t be a box office blockbuster likeStar Wars 8, it still may very well find an indie-friendly audience towards the end of this year.
This new comedy is written and directed by Colette Burson, with Mary Ann Marino, Haroula Rose, Sam Bisbee and Joshua Blum producing. Colette Burson made herdirectorial debutwith the 1999 movieComing Soon, which featured early performances from a number of soon-to-be stars such as Gaby Hoffman, James Roday, Ryan Reynolds, Ellen Pompeo and the feature film debut of Ashton Kutcher. She would go on to write forThe Richesbefore co-creating the HBO seriesHungwithThe Richescreator Dmitry Lipkin. Take a look at the first trailer and poster forPermanent, courtesy ofMagnolia Pictures YouTube.
