‘Sierra Burgess Is a Loser’ Trailer: Netflix’s Next Big Teen Rom-Com Reinvents Cyrano By Way of Catfishing

Sierra Burgess is smart. Sierra Burgess is driven. Sierra Burgess isn’t into the typical trappings of high school. Sierra Burgess is her own woman. Sierra Burgess is… a loser? In Netflix’s latest high-school set rom-com — joining the likes of “The Kissing Booth” and “Alex Strangelove” — beloved “Stranger Things” breakout Shannon Purser stars as the eponymous Sierra Burgess, who is not a loser, at least by her own approximation (or that of anyone who values cool stuff like brains and ambition). But in the teenage wilds of high school, she’s just not cool.

Can a romance change that? Should it?

In “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser,” Purser’s Sierra is on track to getting the hell out of her high school nightmare — bolstered by some very impressive SAT scores — but she’s hamstrung by the fact that there’s not much else that seems to make her stand out. That’s a tough enough pill to swallow, but it gets worse when a phone number mixup brings a cute classmate into her orbit.

Jamey (Noah Centineo) thinks that he’s texting resident mean girl Veronica (Kristine Froseth), but he’s really chatting with Sierra. It’s a modern spin on the classic Cyrano de Bergerac story, spiced up with a smattering of catfishing. Will Sierra be found out? Will Veronica really help her? And when was the last time a film relied on Skype’s known audio lags to sell a big plot point?

The film also stars RJ Cyler, Chrissy Metz, and Lea Thompson. It was directed by first-time feature filmmaker Ian Samuels and written by Lindsay Beer (who is also on deck to write that new “Silver & Black” film, in addition to packing a slew of big-time writers room credits).

Check out the first trailer for “Sierra Burgess Is a Loser” below. The film will launch globally on Netflix on September 7.

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