Trust Issa Rae, Regina Hall, and Refinery29 Z-lister Marsai Martin to give us one of the first feel-good movies of 2019. The trailer for Little, from the producers of Girls Trip, introduces us to April (Rae) and Jordan (Hall and Martin, bear with me). Jordan is the strong-willed boss, and April the meek executive assistant. Their clashing relationship is turned on its head when Jordan wakes up as the 13-year-old version of herself. This manifestation (2019's twist on the classic Tom Hanks movie Big) is perfectly embodied by Martin, who now must juggle running her tech company while also attending middle school.
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That's where April comes in. No longer the downtrodden assistant, she steps into Jordan's shoes in the hopes that nobody notices the boss is both absent and a tween.
Unfortunately, Jordan isn't the easiest role to fill. As a CEO, she's demanding, unrealistic, and cutthroat, which makes her a formidable boss and an even more difficult kid.
"Jordan, to everyone else you're a child," April explains. "So you have to start acting like it."
"Acting like it" does not mean wearing bright pink suits, bossing people around, and hitting on your new school teacher (Justin Hartley), but Jordan continues to do all three. Still, this switcheroo could give everyone the fresh perspective they desperately need.
Little comes directly from the brain of Z-Lister Marsai Martin, who first had the idea after watching Big when she was just 10 years old.. At 14-years-old, this makes her the youngest executive producer of a major Hollywood motion picture in all of history.
“It was one of my most favorite films growing up,” Martin told The Root about the film's creation. “After the Season 1 finale of Black-ish, we told Kenya Barris about it, and he called Will [Packer] and said: ‘Yo, you know the girl who plays Diane on Black-ish? She has this dope idea!’”
Directed by Tina Gordon and written by Gordon and Tracy Oliver, Little comes to theaters April 12. Watch the trailer, below.
*This story was originally published on January 9, additional reporting was added.