Locked Down Trailer Doesn’t Feel Like Pandemic Exploitation, Unlike Songbird

The official trailer for the upcoming HBO Max crime comedy Locked Down dropped, and we are here for this quarantine-themed movie. Because unlike Michael Bay’s Songbird, which premiered to scathing reviews, this movie doesn’t exploit the pandemic that we’re stuck in. Instead, it acknowledges the reality we’re in and the struggles we’re facing, and it gives us a respite from it all without being doom and gloom.

Here’s the synopsis from HBO Max:

Just as they decide to separate, Linda (Anne Hathaway) and Paxton (Chiwetel Ejiofor) find life has other plans when they are stuck at home in a mandatory lockdown. Co-habitation is proving to be a challenge, but fueled by poetry and copious amounts of wine, it will bring them closer together in the most surprising way.

At first glance, this synopsis and the first half of the trailer seem … well, bland. We’re all stuck in a mandatory lockdown on various degrees and levels, and co-habitation has become a bigger part of all of our lives, whether we’re back home or living with our partners/roommates. The last thing we want is another movie that shows us how sad and repetitive our lives have become.

Then, we hit the halfway point of the trailer, and things take an unexpected but welcome turn. This isn’t just a drama movie about a couple on the brink of separating. This is a heist movie! And like you, that caught our attention and sealed the deal when it comes to watching this movie when it premieres on HBO Max on January 14th.

Making Locked Down a heist movie in the middle of a quarantine gives us, the viewer, a break from the endless cycle that we’re stuck in. It gives us hope that we’re not going to be stuck in this situation forever. And it shows us that just because the world is at a standstill doesn’t mean that you have to be.

You can learn a new talent. You can mend bridges with those around you. You can discover parts of yourself you never knew were there. And you can find purpose in the midst of all this madness if you dig deep and swim through the murky waters that have surrounded us all. And we’re here for it, especially if Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor are leading the charge, one heist at a time.

What do you think of HBO Max and their take on the quarantine movie? Are you as excited as we are to see messy Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor?

(featured image: HBO Max)

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