'The Forty-Year Old Version' Trailer: A Struggling Playwright Tries To Reinvent Herself As A Rapper

There's always been a lot of pressure that comes with turning 40 years old. It's the birthday that pushes you "over the hill," and it can be the start of a midlife crisis, especially if you feel like you haven't lived up to your full potential. That's exactly where protagonist Radha Blank finds herself in a new Sundance selected indie, which she also wrote and directed.

The Forty-Year Old Version follows Radha as a playwright who was once named as one of the 30 under 30 playwrights to watch. But now she's 40, and she doesn't have much to show everyone who was watching. So what else does she have to do except reinvent herself as a rapper named RadhaMUSPrime? It just might allow her to get her thoughts out there without dealing with all the stuffy white bullshit in the stage world. Watch The Forty-Year Old Version trailer below to see for yourself.

After winning the Directing Prize at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, this movie feels like it could launch a promising filmmaking career for Radha Blank. On top of that, Blank proves to be an endearing talent on screen, with both fantastic comedic and dramatic chops being displayed.

Eric Kohn at IndieWire wrote in his review:

"While the movie may not have the smoothest flow, Blank's performance becomes key to keeping it all rolling along. Hilarious, self-effacing, and empowering all at once — as one character puts it, "she's like Queen Latifah and Judge Judy rolled into one!" — Blank seems as if she's welcoming viewers into the essence of her struggles, so that even the dopiest jokes have a kernel of truth to them."

Beyond Blank's performance, Kohn also noted, "Scene after scene brims with sharp observations, as the movie careens in its final act from a scathing takedown of the magical black man trope to the ultimate example of bad off-Broadway theater." As the pull-quote in this trailer highlights, this is "a crowdpleaser with purpose," and hopefully that will make this an indie worth seeking out. Here's the official synopsis:

Radha, a down-on-her-luck NY playwright, is desperate for a breakthrough before 40. But when she foils what seems like her last shot at success, she's left with no choice but to reinvent herself as rapper RadhaMUSPrime. The Forty-Year-Old Version follows Radha as she vacillates between the worlds of Hip Hop and theater on a quest to find her true voice.

The 40-Year Old Version arrives on Netflix on October 9, 2020.