Watch The Trailer For Louis C.K.'s Controversial New Film 'I Love You, Daddy'

TIFF

Louis C.K. made headlines last month when it was announced that he had quietly directed his first movie in over 16 years, I Love You, Daddy. The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to very mixed reviews, with some calling it a "boundary-pushing comedy about fatherhood" and others saying it's a "thinkpiece generator" and nothing more.

Below, you can watch the first trailer for the film, which will open in New York and Los Angeles on November 17th, before expanding nationwide December 1st. Based on the trailer, it looks like C.K. has made his own black-and-white homage to Woody Allen's Manhattan—except this movie is about a father reckoning with his underage daughter dating a much-older legendary director.

The film stars C.K. as a famed TV writer, Chloe Grace Moretz as his teenage daughter, and John Malkovich as the legendary director, with shades of both Allen and Roman Polanski; the movie also stars Pamela Adlon, Rose Byrne, Charlie Day, Edie Falco, and Helen Hunt.

After the initial debut and reception, C.K. brushed off some of the controversy: "It's just a fucking movie," C.K. told The Hollywood Reporter. "We're depicting oxygen-rich people who live in these beautiful apartments and offices saying whatever they want. Folks say shit to each other. You can't think about the audience when you're making the thing. If you do, you;re not giving them something that came out of your gut. You'll be making something that you're like, 'Is this OK for you?' And they say, 'Yes, thank you.' Mark Twain said something like, 'You can't say no one can eat steak just because the baby doesn't have teeth yet.'"

Asked about the "uncomfortable" conversations that arose after the premiere, C.K. said, "That’s exactly what I want in a movie." If you want to know more spoilers about the film, you can read Vulture's recap.