‘Love and Mercy’ Trailer: Paul Dano and John Cusack Are Beach Boys

The first trailer for Love and Mercy has arrived, in which Paul Dano and John Cusack take on the role of music legend and Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson. Love and Mercy generated some positive word of mouth on the festival circuit last year, and since then, we’ve been anticipating the release of this biopic, which promises great performances from both Dano and Cusack in this intimate story about Wilson’s triumphs and struggles.

Dano plays the younger Wilson in Love and Mercy, tracking the singer/songwriter’s success with The Beach Boys, the highly influential group whose music defined an era. Going off this trailer, Love and Mercy doesn’t appear to paint by the traditional biopic numbers, which is definitely a relief. Although Wilson and The Beach Boys’ accomplishments earned them massive fame, the singer soon discovered the high price of that fame and struggled for many years. Cusack plays the older Wilson, attempting to pick up the pieces of his life, and it’s great to see Cusack being taken seriously again after a series of unfortunate Choices with a capital C.

Love and Mercy also stars Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti, and marks the directorial debut of Oscar-winning producer Bill Pohlad (12 Years a Slave, Into the Wild). Brian Wilson himself serves as a producer on the project, which carries his endorsement—another good sign.

Love and Mercy will play at this year’s SXSW Film Festival before hitting theaters on June 5.