When I think of Tom Hanks, I picture him in contemporary classics of cinema, like Catch Me If You Can or Saving Private Ryan, but this new Tom Hanks movie, Here, looks so weird — and I must see it. Called Here, the drama is directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future), who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth (Dune). An adaptation of Richard McGuire’s graphic novel of the same name, Here chronicles the lives of Richard and Margaret, who are played by Hanks and Robin Wright. However, the film isn’t a run-of-the-mill drama.

Still, given the movies that define Tom Hanks’ career, I’m surprised by the strangeness of Here. The Oscar-winning actor has played his fair share of conventional characters in conventional movies, but he’s also taken some big swings. Sometimes, I forget that Hanks starred in genre-breaking, boundary-pushing movies like Cloud Atlas because it’s easy to picture him playing Mr. Rogers, Walt Disney, or a rom-com love interest. In a weird way, Here combines Hanks’ long-standing career in dramas with something more innovative, and that alone will make it worth the price of admission.

Tom Hanks’ New Movie Here Features A Very Odd Camera Format

Here’s Fixed Camera Gives The Movie A Unique Point Of View

For me, the most intriguing part of Tom Hanks’ next movie is that Here employs a fixed camera for the entirety of its runtime. Essentially, viewers see one sliver of a room in Richard and Margaret Young’s house for 104 minutes. By giving audiences a seemingly narrow window into the couple’s life, Zemeckis pushes the envelope in a narrative sense. Although the story seems very contained, Here retierates just how much can happen in any given space. While I’m not fully convinced by the effectiveness of Zemeckis’ unique narrative approach, it’s weird enough to be intriguing.

Notably, Here de-ages Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, allowing the actors to play Richard and Margaret over several decades. Unlike other films that employ de-aging technology, such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny or The Irishman, Here uses a new generative artificial intelligence technology. Called Metaphysic Live, the tech face-swaps and de-ages the actors in real time as they perform. By chronicling the past, present, and future of its main characters via one static camera, Here‘s narrative approach reminds me more of a play than a feature film — and that could work well.

Why Robert Zemeckis’ Here Movie With Tom Hanks Is Such A Big Deal

The New Fixed-Camera Premise Also Reunites Tom Hanks & Robin Wright

The groundbreaking use of the fixed camera, which stays still for a millennium, isn’t the only thing that intrigues me about Robert Zemeckis’ Here. The upcoming film serves as a reunion for actors Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, who previously shared the screen 30 years earlier in Zemeckis’ Oscar-winning Forrest Gump. Although a de-aged Hanks is nightmarish, a Forrest Gump reunion is definitely cause for excitement. Between its unique approach to storytelling and filming and its on-screen talent, the weird-yet-compelling Here looks like one of 2024’s must-watch movies.