“Put her in her place, man,” says an onlooker just as the Brooklyn teenage girl at the center of First Match makes her move into the world of boys wrestling. This trailer for the Netflix film, bowing at the SXSW festival before hitting Netflix later this month, shows that the girl won’t go down without a fight.
Starring newcomer Elvire Emanuelle, writer-director Olivia Newman’s first feature began as a short film at the 2011 New York Film Festival, then worked its way through Sundance’s screenwriters and directors labs.
Netflix’s First Match synopsis: Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that joining the all-boys’ wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.
Whether the girl’s journey to her dad proves successful or worthwhile isn’t spoiled in this trailer, but the film looks to have an unmistakably authentic Brooklyn feel, with a cast that mixes professional actors and New York City high school wrestlers.
In addition to Emanuelle, the film also stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, Jharrel Jerome and Jared Kemp. Producers are Chanelle Elaine, Veronica Nickel and Bryan Unkeless.
First Match launches March 30 on Netflix.
Take a look at the trailer above, and here’s the poster:
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