The 30th annualAustin Film Festivalis just around the corner, kicking offOctober 26 and running through November 2. The event will feature several screenings and world premieres, including the world premiere ofI’ll Be the There. The film centers ona blended familywho must face the unexpected death of a childhood hero. Ahead of the film’s debut at the festival later this month, Collider is excited to exclusively debut the trailer.
I’ll Be Thereprimarily focuses on Grace, the youngest of five children in a blended family, one that was difficult to explain to others. However, after Grace finally graduates, she leaves her home life in the past. Flash forward more than a decade later. Grace is an adult and thriving in her new lifein Los Angeles— but doing so only cast her more outside her family. Soon enough, her life is turned upside down upon learning her brother and protector growing up, AJ,has cancer, reuniting her family.
AJ’s diagnosis isn’t the only startling news at the center ofI’ll Be There— it also takes place mere days following the death ofmusic legendMichael Jacksonand is set at the hospital next door to the coroner’s office. The singer was an integral part of Grace and her siblings' childhood, something not lost on her as they come together. So, Grace must contend withher family’s traumatic past, find common ground with her estranged family members, and say goodbye to a childhood icon.
Family Is There for Better or for Worse
The trailer begins on a heartbreaking note as Grace rushes to see her brother in the hospital. Viewers quickly gain a sense of what her childhood was likeas a flashback soon plays out, showing a rough moment between a young Grace and another of her brothers. It’s one of two glimpses into Grace’s past the trailer offers, but already it seems like she lived in a tumultuous home, informing her decision to ultimately leave her family in her rearview as an adult. The second half of the trailer brings in Jackson’s death, using it as a vehicle to showhow the singerwas a common thread between her and her siblings. However, his death also hits especially hard as Grace and her family begin to face the reality of AJ’s cancer.
Though the film version ofI’ll Be Therewill debut at the film festival, it was previously hosted by the event in 2018 as a staged reading. The film was written byCindy McCreery(Honey Girl,Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Grove) and directed byAndrew Shea(Buzz,Wrestling Alligators), both of whom will be in attendance at the festival.I’ll Be TherestarsJasmine Batchelor(New Amsterdam),Ryan Cooper(Rough Night),Dorien Wilson(The Parkers),Victoria Kelleher(Why Women Kill), andCelestina Harris(Special Ops: Lioness).
I’ll Be Therepremieres October 26 at the Austin Film Festival, with a second screening on November 1. Watch the trailer below:
