'Little Women' Clip: Jo And Laurie Dance Like No One Is Watching

Don't sleep on Little Women.

Writer/director Greta Gerwig's new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's classic novel doesn't come out until Christmas, and while Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will dominate the box office around then, I'm guessing a new version of Little Women is going to earn a significant amount of attention in its own right. Sony has unveiled a new clip from the movie that seems to represent a microcosm of Gerwig's approach to this beloved story. Check it out below.

Those who have read the book or seen the previous film adaptations of Alcott's novel will recognize this scene, which takes place at a fancy dance party where Meg (Emma Watson), the March family's eldest sister, is invited to learn how to socialize. The headstrong and creative Jo (Saoirse Ronan) tags along and dances on the outskirts of the party with her friend and neighbor Theodore "Laurie" Laurence, since she's burned her dress by standing too close to a fire and doesn't want anyone to notice. But as you can see in this version, their ballroom-style dancing turns to a more modern form of rocking out, seemingly serving to tell viewers that Gerwig has a bit of a different take on the material than what we're used to.

Take the character of Marmee, for instance. She's matriarch of the March household, and she'll be portrayed by Laura Dern in this version. As Dern recently told Vanity Fair, Marmee has often been depicted as "the angelic, all-loving, never complicated, never messy, iconic mother." But in this version, Marmee is more complex and occasionally angry – a natural reaction for a woman raising four daughters during the Civil War while her husband is away, but again, not something that often comes across in film versions of the character. I look forward to seeing how Gerwig navigates the text of the story in her new movie, keeping essential elements and tweaking others to fit this more modern retelling (even though it's still a period piece).

Here's the movie's official description:

Writer-director Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) has crafted a Little Women that draws on both the classic novel and the writings of Louisa May Alcott, and unfolds as the author's alter ego, Jo March, reflects back and forth on her fictional life. In Gerwig's take, the beloved story of the March sisters – four young women each determined to live life on her own terms — is both timeless and timely. Portraying Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth March, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen, with Timothée Chalamet as their neighbor Laurie, Laura Dern as Marmee, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

Little Women arrives in theaters on December 25, 2019.