Natalie Portman Is Reborn as a Pop Star in First Vox Lux Trailer

A star is reborn as Natalie Portman seriously channels Lady Gaga in the first trailer for Vox Lux, which features the Black Swan Academy Award winner as pop star Celeste.

Vox Lux starts in 1999, when teenage Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) survives a violent tragedy. After singing at a funeral service, she becomes a burgeoning pop star, backed up by her songwriter sister Eleanor (Stacy Martin) and her manager (Jude Law), and quickly shoots up to becoming an American icon, secular deity and global superstar. By 2017, though, after a scandalous incident, she’s mounting a comeback with a sci-fi concept album titled Vox Lux, which forces her to overcome her personal and familial struggles to navigate motherhood, madness and fame.

Written and directed by Brady Corbet, Vox Lux features original songs by Sia and was scored by Scott Walker.

The trailer centers on Portman’s larger-than-life pop star transformation for her new role, which clearly draws inspiration from the chameleonic persona that Lady Gaga left behind with her acclaimed acting turn in A Star Is Born earlier this fall. It’s unclear whether Portman, like Gaga, will be a serious awards contender for Vox Lux, but we may very well have two very different visions of pop stardom competing for Oscar glory this year.

NEON will release Vox Lux in N.Y. and L.A. on Dec. 7 before expanding nationwide on Dec. 14.

Watch the trailer below.