'The Photograph' Trailer: Issa Rae And LaKeith Stanfield Fall For Each Other

You may still be tidying up after last night's Halloween celebration, but Universal already wants you to lock down your plans for Valentine's Day. That's when the studio is releasing The Photograph, a new romantic comedy/drama starring Issa Rae (HBO's Insecure) and LaKeith Stanfield (FX's Atlanta). Check out the film's first trailer below.

Will Packer, who is low-key one of the most successful producers in Hollywood right now with movies like Girls Trip, Ride Along, Think Like a Man, and more under his belt, is producing. Stella Meghie is writing and directing. Meghie has directed Rae in an episode of Insecure, has dabbled in TV and some indie features, and also has studio rom-com experience: she directed 2017's Everything, Everything, the teen romance with Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson at the center.

This movie looks like a Nicholas Sparks-style romance, but hey, I'm not here to judge. Mid-budget modern studio films which pair two talented performers like these are few and far between right now, so I'm glad this gives both of these actors a chance to further establish their range in what could be a big crowd-pleaser on Valentine's Day. The film reunites Stanfield with his Get Out co-star Lil Rel Howery, and adds Courtney B. Vance (American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson) to the mix as well.

Here's the movie's official synopsis:

On Valentine's Day, Issa Rae (HBO's Insecure, Little) and LaKeith Stanfield (FX's Atlanta, Sorry to Bother You) connect in a romance where a woman must learn from the secrets in her mother's past if she is to move forward and allow herself to love and be loved.

When famed photographer Christina Eames unexpectedly dies, she leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton (Rae) hurt, angry and full of questions. When a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box is found, Mae finds herself on a journey delving into her mother's early life and ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with a rising-star journalist, Michael Block (Stanfield).

From writer-director Stella Meghie (The Weekend, Jean of the Joneses) from her original screenplay comes a sweeping love story about forgiveness and finding the courage to seek the truth, no matter where it may lead you.

The film also stars Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne) as Mae's young mother Christina, Y'lan Noel (HBO's Insecure) as Christina's secret love, and Rob Morgan (Mudbound) as Isaac Jefferson, a New Orleans fisherman with a mysterious connection to Mae's mother.

The Photograph hits theaters on February 14, 2020.