We haven't been this excited for a romantic comedy since Love Actually. The first trailer for Southside With You is out today and it's making us a little weak at the knees. Could Barack Obama be the new Lloyd Dobler, the golden standard by which all suitors will hereby be measured?
The movie stars Tika Sumpter as Michelle Robinson, whom we first see getting ready for a "not a date" with a young summer associate at her firm. This dapper Harvard law student (Parker Sawyers) has invited her to a "community event" on a steamy summer night in Chicago in 1989. We could wrap this all up and say, "The rest is history," if it weren't for how well this trailer teases us.
She's all skeptical business, noticing how he's late to pick her up and his car has a giant hole in the floor — this is starting out exactly like a rom-com! Barack puts on the charm, however: "I thought we'd swing by the art center, see some paintings, maybe grab a bite to eat," he suggests.
"How's it gonna look if I start dating the first cute Black guy who walks through the firm's doors?" she asks. "It would be tacky."
"You think I'm cute," he responds. Holy cow, how is this guy giving us goosebumps? We're not supposed to feel this way about our sitting commander in chief! We're falling for the first lady all over again, too. This shouldn't feel so right. But we've seen glimpses of these two as our #relationshipgoals since before 2008, so it also makes complete sense to watch the story of their romance unfold. From now on, first couples are just ruined for us.
Southside With You opens in theaters August 26.