Perhaps best known for her leading role in the ever-popular Veronica Mars, a role which she’s set to return to following a successful Kickstarter campaign to make the Veronica Mars movie, Kristen Bell continues to go from strength to strength on both the small and big screen. Her upcoming slate boasts not only Disney’s anticipated Frozen, but also Sundance-charmer The Lifeguard, which sees the actress take centre stage in the independent film.
Premiering to excellent early reviews at Sundance back in January, The Lifeguard is set to be released in the US in just over two months. And now Focus World, an arm of Focus Features, have debuted the first poster through Yahoo Movies.
Leigh, almost 30, is living a seemingly perfect life in New York. But when her career and love life both come crashing down, she flees to her suburban hometown and regresses right back into high school life. Picking up right where her teen halcyon days left off, she moves into her old room with her parents, hangs out with friends who never left town, and reclaims her high school job as a condo-complex lifeguard. But as Leigh enjoys shirking off adult life and responsibilities, and enters into an illicit affair, she begins a chain reaction that affects those closest to her.
Starring alongside Bell in the lead will be Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Joshua Harto, Amy Madigan, and David Lambert.
Liz W. Garcia, who’s spent years as a writer for the likes of Dawson’s Creek and Cold Case, makes her feature debut as a director here, directing from her own script.
I’m a big fan of everything I’ve seen Bell do to date, ranging from her work in Heroes to Safety Not Guaranteed, Scream 4, and beyond. Naturally, getting the chance to see her lead a film like this is very much something I’m looking forward to, and I’m hoping it will get the theatrical release it deserves on our shores.
The Lifeguard will be released in the US on August 30th. No word as of yet on a UK release date, but I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that it will cross the Atlantic within a few months of its Stateside debut.
