‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ Trailer: Meryl Streep Sings Again, But This Time It’s Terrible

Last year we saw (and heard) Meryl Streep sing in Jonathan Demme and Diablo Cody’s wonderful (and very underrated) Ricki and the Flash. This year Streep will sing again, but this time will be completely different…and awkward…and maybe kind of awful — the singing, anyway. It’s yet to be determined if Florence Foster Jenkins is actually any good, but the trailer for Stephen Frears’ upcoming biopic at least confirms that Streep’s singing will be terrible.

It’s difficult to imagine that Meryl Streep could be bad at anything, but she is a great actress, after all. Streep stars in Florence Foster Jenkins as the titular New York heiress who pursued her dream of becoming an opera singer — there’s just one problem: she’s a horrible singer. Still, her charming husband (played by professional charming person Hugh Grant) indulges her obsession and hires a pianist (Simon Helberg), and the two of them successfully shield Florence from negative reactions to her performances. Here’s the official synopsis:

Directed by Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen), Florence Foster Jenkins tells the inspirational true story of the eponymous New York heiress who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great singer. The film celebrates the human spirit, the power of music and the passion of amateurs everywhere. The voice Florence (Streep) heard in her head was divine, but to the rest of the world it was hilariously awful. At private recitals, her devoted husband and manager, St Clair Bayfield (Grant), managed to protect Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give her first public concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall, St Clair realised he had perhaps bitten off more than he could chew.

This isn’t the only biopic Frears has hitting theaters this year. He also has The Program, the Lance Armstrong movie starring Ben Foster — though early word on that film has skewed somewhat negative.

Hopefully Florence Foster Jenkins is much more entertaining. At the very least, Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant appear to be positively charming, so that’s a start. The film also stars Rebecca Ferguson and Nina Arianda, and hits U.K. theaters on May 6, while a U.S. release date has yet to be announced.