Amazon Prime Video has released the first trailer for its upcoming drama, Birds of Paradise. Set in the halls of an elite Paris ballet academy, the film follows two young dancers as they compete for a coveted contract with the Opéra national de Paris.
The trailer introduces Kristine Froseth as Marine Durand, a troubled dancer who vows to regain the academy's top spot in the wake of her brother's suicide. But a significant roadblock arrives in the form of Diana Silvers' Kate Sanders, a new student at the academy who has placed the Opéra national de Paris contract squarely in her crosshairs. The two form an unlikely friendship, fraught with secrets, lies, and creeping psychosexual discomfort.
While the trailer is positively dripping with Black Swan vibes, the most intriguing twist might just be the boarding school setting, steering the story into teen drama territory. That's an area both leads have extensive experience with: Froseth starred in Hulu's John Green adaptation, Looking for Alaska, as well as Netflix's vanished parents series, The Society; and Silvers had a memorable turn as an unexpected hookup in Booksmart. They'd make for watchable leads in any teen drama, even before you add in the twists and turns of a psychological thriller.
Adapted from A.K. Small's debut novel, Bright Burning Stars, the film was written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith, the filmmaker behind Rami Malek's surreal cult film, Buster's Mal Heart. Cementing her own teen drama bona fides, Smith previously worked with Froseth on Looking for Alaska. Jacqueline Bisset also stars.
Birds of Paradise arrives on Amazon Prime Video on September 24. Check out the trailer and official synopsis below.
Kate Sanders is an ambitious and gifted, if tomboyish, aspiring ballerina from Virginia who, because of her low-income status, is given a scholarship to attend a prestigious ballet school in Paris, France. Upon arriving at the cutthroat, internationally-renowned institution, her confidence and emotional fortitude are tested by a beautiful, mysterious fellow dancer, Marine Durand, who recently lost her brother (and dance partner) to suicide. While confrontational at first, Kate and Marine’s relationship evolves into an emotionally-charged, competitive union beset by lies, sexual awakening and, ultimately, emotional breakthrough as they risk everything to win the school’s ultimate prize: a contract to join the Opéra national de Paris.