Coastal elite, written by Paul Rudnick, was originally conceived as a play for the Public Theater. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to take a different form: a movie, directed by Jay Roach.
The film tells the stories of five different people – all living in Los Angeles or New York, hence the title – who deal with the pandemic in their own way. The starry cast includes Bette Midler, who plays a New York City public school teacher who ends up in police custody (in the trailer she talks angrily about a certain red hat, which might give you an idea why she is in custody); Sarah Paulson as YouTuber; Issa Rae as a philanthropist whose work brought her into contact with some unpopular political figures; Kaitlyn Dever as a nurse traveling from her home in Wyoming to New York City to help fight the pandemic; and Dan Levy as an actor under severe stress.
What sets the film apart from other films coming out right now is that it was shot entirely remotely. If you are envious of what an external production looks like, check out the new trailer.
Coastal elite premieres on HBO on Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
