Angelina Jolie Is Breaking Down the Latest 'By the Sea' Trailer for You

"I wanted to suggest and guide and give hints to the audience but not bore them or reveal all before the film itself."

Angelina Jolie By The Sea
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Update, 10/31: The latest trailer for Brad and Angelina's film By the Sea is out—and we're still just a little confused as to what's actually happening here. There's stunning seaside views (obvs), a little but of fighting, dramatic showers and even some A+ hair flipping (peep the 1:01 mark), but what does it all mean?

Well, if it's up to Angie, you won't find out until the movie officially hits theaters on November 13. "I wanted to suggest and guide and give hints to the audience but not bore them or reveal all before the film itself," she tells Entertainment Weekly of the self-directed project. "I like trailers that don't explain the whole film; that tell you exactly what to expect." Rather, look for hints below:

Update, 10/20: What happens when you combine an extended trailer, bloopers, and takes from behind the camera: a series of clips that don't make sense but still convince you that Brad and Angelina's film By the Sea will be nothing short of amazing.

The stars talk candidly (with some mix from their characters' parts?) about love, the biggest challenges filming this movie—and why they're so glad they collaborated. #relationshipgoals

Update, 8/6: No wonder Angie said she probably wouldn't direct another movie that was so heavy on the *feelings.*

The first trailer for By the Sea is here, and while it stars both Jolie and mustachioed Brad Pitt, they're nothing like they are IRL. They cry. They write in the bathtub. They hit each other. And where are Maddox and Pax and Zahara and Shiloh and Vivienne and Knox? DON'T THEY GO EVERYWHERE TOGETHER ALL THE TIME?

This looks like the sort of movie you go see when you want to have a good cry and ultimately feel cynical about love, which makes it funny that it's coming out Nov. 13 and not Valentine's Day. 

Update, 8/6: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, colleagues in work and in life, had to pretend to hate each other for a movie Angie wrote and directed called By the Sea. For regular couples, the prospect of tapping into your most unpleasant feelings toward the person you love would be terrifying, but not for Brangelina—they're so tight it was just awk for everybody else. 

"I'd be directing myself and him in a scene where we're having a fight, and I'd be pulling out the parts [of him] that have an aggression toward me or when you're frustrated with each other—it was very heavy," Jolie said in an interview with the Directors Guild of America. "We kept joking that all of the crew felt like they were living in a house where the parents were fighting and you don't know where to stand or where to look."

But then she was all like, "Yeah, not doing that again," so we know not even the most professional, movie-starriest movie stars of our time are immune to emotional carry-over ."We're proud of ourselves for being brave enough to try it," she said. "I think By the Sea was the hardest film for me because it wasn't [issue-driven]. It's something I probably won't do very much of."

Perhaps that is for the best, given that we are deep in the throes of Breakupocalypse right now.

Original story, 1/29: How's that for a role reversal (in more ways than one)? According to The Wrap, Brad Pitt is in negotiations to star in Angelina Jolie's upcoming drama Africa, in which he could logically play an evil ivory poacher or a famous conservationist who stands up to evil ivory poachers.

This is the second time the couple has worked together since 2005's Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Sadly, there won't be any super-spy hanky panky this time around, just like there won't be in this year's By the Sea, which Jolie directs and stars in alongside her Oscar-winner husband.

Can Brad Pitt make a believable scumbag? Will the children get to interact with the elephants on set? Production could begin as early as this summer, so only half a year until we might find out!

Chelsea Peng
Assistant Editor

Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at MarieClaire.com. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.