“Mother and I live next door to each other,” says Carrie Fisher in the beginning of the recently-released bittersweet trailer for Bright Lights: Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher, premiering January 7 on HBO. What follows is two minutes of archival footage and home movies of the unshakeable bond of love and friendship that passed between Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds.
It’s evident from that Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher loved each other fiercely and served as each other’s protectors. Accompanied by plinking, cheerful piano music, the trailer promises a love story and a portrait of a slightly eccentric Hollywood family through crisis and love, mental health and the realities of aging. I’m not a crier, but I teared up and that counts for something.
“I’m my mom’s best friend. Far more than I would ever want to, I know what my mother feels and wants,” Fisher says near the end. That kind of bond is really special. Call your mother, if you can or if you want to and call your grandma for good measure. Gather your tissues and your emotional resolve and watch the trailer below.