In their new movie, Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun prove you don’t have to be human to be in love.
PEOPLE has the exclusive first trailer for Love Me, starring the Oscar nominees as two star-crossed lovers in a post-apocalyptic Earth.
Stewart, 34, plays a technologically advanced buoy in the ocean who calls herself Me and, eventually, Deja. Yeun, 41, is a satellite orbiting the planet who becomes Iam, later Liam.
Written and directed by married duo Sam and Andy Zuchero, Love Me questions the nature of life in a world where life no longer exists. “In a story that spans billions of years, a buoy and a satellite meet online long after humanity’s extinction,” reads a synopsis from distributor Bleecker Street. “As they learn what life was like on Earth, they discover themselves and what it means to be alive and in love.”
Justine Yeung/Bleeker Street
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“We wanted to make a movie that would make you feel big and small at the same time,” the Zucheros tell PEOPLE in a statement. “It’s the story of two completely new beings — the A.I. in two machines — who evolve into virtual avatars and then into flesh and blood humans.”
“This is how life forms make friends,” intones Stewart’s buoy in the trailer, rifling through leftover footage from humanity’s internet. “Okay, I’m not so sure I’m following,” responds Yeun’s satellite.
“Let’s move in together,” she suggests.
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The story then sees Deja and Liam coexisting digitally as two-dimensional animated beings, building a virtual world together until they’re three-dimensional recreations of a happy couple that previously lived on Earth.
Initially inspired by the notion of artificial intelligence inheriting our planet “long after we blow ourselves up,” the Zucheros then realized “it was really a love story about us,” they share.
“It’s about how distant we feel right now and how everyone wants so desperately to connect. Love Me became a mirror for who we pretend to be and who we really are.”
The filmmaking pair add that Stewart and Yeun were “true collaborators, giving their heart and souls to every frame in Love Me. The support they gave to first-time directors fills us with gratitude. We’re forever indebted to these two beautiful artists.”
Following its premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Love Me is in theaters Jan. 31.
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