Little Women is a timeless tale, exploring the love and rivalry between four sisters as they navigate growing up and going after their dreams.

Everyone has an opinion about which March sister is the worst: the only right answer is Amy – she’s spoilt and doesn’t hesitate to step on other women to achieve her goals. And everyone has a favourite screen adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s book: the only right answer is the 1994 film with Winona Ryder and Christian Bale as Jo March and Laurie respectively. The worst, if you’re curious, is Little Women: A Modern Retelling – a vomit-inducing and low-budget movie reboot, which aims to drag the March sisters (presumably kicking and screaming) into the modern day.

While the answer to which March sister is the worst will always be the same, later this year we suspect we’ll have a new favourite film adaptation of Little Women, when the Greta Gerwig-directed version is released in December.

The film has a bloody brilliant cast. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March are played respectively by Emma Watson, Saoirse Ronan, Eliza Scanlen and Florence Pugh. Joining them as their mother is Laura Dern, while Meryl Streep plays Aunt March, Timothée Chalamet takes on the role of Laurie and James Norton plays John Brooke.

We already knew by the casting news that this was going to be something special, but now that we’ve seen the first official trailer, we KNOW it’s going to be good. 

Watch the Little Women trailer

The trailer starts by introducing Jo (Ronan) as she reflects on growing up with her sisters while writing a story about them. It then goes on to prove how perfectly cast each role is, including Streep who brings a perfect touch of comedy in her role as strict Aunt March and Dern as the warm Marmee March. The trailer is also a visual delight, with a lust-worthy period wardrobe of pastel dresses and sun hats.

We’d previously seen stills of the film, which were shared by Watson on her Instagram. 

The pictures, originally released by Vanity Fair, include one where Jo and Laurie stand windswept in a field, the look passing between them betraying how complicated their relationship is. In another picture, Laurie does up the back of Amy’s dress, an intimate moment that hints at their romantic connection.

But it was the images showing the March sisters together that are the best, because at its core Little Women is a story about sisterhood. There are glimpses of the siblings on a beach picnic, acting in one of Jo’s plays and looking eagerly out of a window.

The soft palette of pinks, peaches, pale blues and beiges used for the cast’s costumes have given us serious clothing inspiration; we especially love Emma Watson’s delicate pale peach blouse paired with a floral shawl, and Jo’s beige jacket. 

The wardrobe choices are significant, particularly when it comes to Jo and Laurie. Gerwig told Vanity Fair: “Jo is a girl with a boy’s name, Laurie is a boy with a girl’s name. In some ways they are each other’s twins.” A connection is drawn between the two through their wardrobe choices: costume designer Jacqueline Durran had Ronan and Chalamet swap articles of clothing through the film. 

It is always tricky to get excited about a book-to-screen adaptation, particularly when it has been done before… and well.

However, while we will forever love Gillian Armstrong’s beautiful 1994 version of Little Women (which starred Winona Ryder as Jo, Kirsten Dunst as Amy, Claire Danes as Beth, Trini Alvarado as Meg, and Christian Bale as Laurie), we suspect that Gerwig – who was nominated for two Academy Awards at this year’s Oscars – more than has the skills to make her own stamp on the Little Women story a rip-roaring success.

That or, y’know, it will be hopelessly flawed. Fingers crossed it’s the former, eh?

Image: Getty