I’m a Virgo’s new trailer has its head in the clouds and its feet on the ground

As wild as the premise of Amazon Prime’s I’m a Virgo might sound at first, the series’ newest trailer makes clear just how perfectly all writer-director Boots Riley’s ideas fit together to tell a story that’s more grounded than it initially seems.

Equal parts fairytale, superhero origin story, and coming-of-age drama, I’m a Virgo chronicles the life and times of a 13-foot-tall, 19-year-old boy named Cootie (Jharrel Jerome) who’s spent the bulk of his life hidden away in secret by his family who fears what the world might do to him. As the people who’ve raised Cootie from birth, Lafrancine (Carmen Ejogo) and Martisse (Mike Epps) understand well what sort of dangers a boy like their son might face if the public knew about him, and it’s obvious that much of what they’ve taught him has left an impression on him. 

But I’m a Virgo’s new trailer highlights how, for all of Cootie’s respect for his parents and his technical understanding of the dangers that come with being turned into a sideshow act, he’s also just a sheltered kid who wants to experience what all the world has to offer. The trailer makes it very clear that, much like Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, I’m a Virgo’s going to be shot through with pointed commentary about the twin violences of capitalism and anti-Black racism. But you can also just feel how much of a whimsical joyride I’m a Virgo’s supposed to be, and it seems like the series might be one of the summer’s more interesting new releases when it hits Amazon Prime on June 23rd.