Natalie Portman has been much more selective of late, which makes the roles she does agree to all the more interesting. Her last awards-worth performance coming in 2016’s Jackie, it’s been a couple years since Portman found herself in the Oscar race. Look for her to chase the statue this season, because Vox Lux is here.
In Vox Lux, Portman plays a pop star named Celeste who stumbles into unexpected fame. If it sounds like something along the lines of A Star Is Born, it’s not. This is an out-and-out weird-looking art movie, with a trailer marked by masked rebellion and trippy tunnel runs and all kinds of radical light and shadow.
Portman, too, is a far cry from anything Lady Gaga was doing in Star. She looks regal here, with preposterous hair and illogical outfits and a petulance that makes you repulsed by her and drawn to her all at once. She’s Natalie Portman, but of course, is so transformed and altered that you see the character, too.
It’s on the more experimental side of our spectrum, but we’ll be eyeing Vox Lux. You can look for it yourself when it hits theaters December 7.
