Greta Gerwig’s ‘Narnia’ Trailer Is the Perfect Amount of Sentimentality

Greta Gerwig’s style of filmmaking is often connected to an emotional heartbeat that leaves audiences bereft by the end. Films like Lady Bird, Little Women, and the box office smash Barbie all became classics among fans of Gerwig’s because of how she tapped into an emotional connection within the film and made fans fall in love. Her adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia franchise is no different. If “What Was I Made For” plays, we’re all doomed.

The trailer for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew was released to tease the film’s February release date. But it is also an important moment for Gerwig, who loves the franchise and Lewis as a creative mind. That much is clear in watching her talk about his work or even just by watching the Narnia trailer. And it makes her bringing this franchise to life for a new generation that much sweeter.

There have been other adaptations of Lewis’ work. The BBC brought the books to a cursed TV adaptation in the 90s and the beloved films from the 2000s, kicked off with Andrew Adamson’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, still remain iconic. But no one had adapted Lewis’ prequel into a live-action story, until now. Set 40 years prior to the Pevensie children going to stay with Digory Kirke, we get to see a young Digory discovering the world of Narnia all for himself.

Yes, a lot of this trailer works on a “tease” kind of level. We’re seeing a glimpse of what is to come. More than that though, it reminds us that Gerwig always puts heart and connection at the forefront of her films and there is no better mentality for the Narnia franchise.

The creation of Narnia

Part of what made me incredibly emotional while watching the Narnia trailer was rooted in my own personal connection to these stories. Outside of loving the movies and the story, I was in a production of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in high school as Lucy Pevensie. And something within me broke seeing Aslan bringing life to Narnia.

Gerwig is using a passage from The Magician’s Nephew as inspiration for the Aslan moment. The passage reads as follows: “In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. It was hardly a tune. But it was beyond comparison, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it…”

So yes, seeing Aslan was enough to bring forth an emotional reaction within me but I also do think that Gerwig uses that love we have to her advantage and it is beautiful to watch.

You can watch the trailer here:

Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew is in theaters on February 12.