When it was announced today that Gus Van Sant's next project would be Restless, a "contemporary and distinctive take on young love" from first-time screenwriter Jason Lew, the film's logline was mysteriously kept secret. Luckily, Movieline got its hands on the script and while we won't spoil anything major (not that it's a particularly twisty affair), we can at least tell you as much as you'll learn when they make a trailer for it.
So what's this thing like? Essentially, Restless is the most emo love story to ever don black lipstick and listen to The Smiths. Protagonist Enoch Brae is a 17-year-old funeral crasher, drawn to attending strangers' memorials after losing both his parents. At one of them, he meets the beautiful, tomboyish Annabel Cotton, a 16-year-old with Six Months to Live. Love then blooms among the gravestones as "the moon looks on knowingly and sympathetically," writes Lew.
Here are three relevant character descriptions:
Attention, casting directors: Please be on the lookout for actors who have "toughness," but also, at the same time, something that is not toughness.
Production will begin soon on Restless, which is budgeted at $15 million.