Screen Rant is proud to present an exclusive first look at the trailer for the upcoming comedy Dotty & Soul, which finally has a release date after premiering at the 2022 San Diego International Film Festival. With Quiver as its distributor, Screen Rant can officially reveal that it will be arriving on digital platforms on May 19. Adam Saunders’ feature film directorial debut, which he also wrote and stars in, explores cancel culture and genuine growth with humor and heart.
Alongside Saunders, Dotty & Soul stars Leslie Uggams, a veteran actress who is perhaps best loved for her role as Blind Al in the Deadpool franchise. Saunders plays Ethan Cox, a hot-shot entrepreneur whose self-driving car company is on the verge of being sold at a high profit when a Halloween costume from his past threatens to destroy his future. As a last-ditch effort to maintain control, he hires 71-year-old snack cart vendor Dotty (Uggams) to be his figurehead until the deal closes. But Dotty has a mind of her own, and Ethan still has plenty of lessons to learn — thus chaos and comedy ensue.
The trailer for Dotty & Soul, which Screen Rant can exclusively present, introduces Ethan as “the world’s flashiest CEO.” But once a picture of him having attended a Halloween party in shoe polish goes viral, he must assign a person of color to become the new CEO before Brannigan (David Koechner, The Goldbergs) kicks him out and takes over. But when he hires Dotty, it’s clear she’s far from ignorant and may even be better at playing the business game than Ethan. Not to mention that Ethan still has to own up to his actions and learn from his racist behaviors.
As Saunders shared in his director’s statement, Dotty & Soul is about authenticity. After years of working as a producer, Saunders decided to follow his dream of acting and created a role for himself that would help make those dreams come true. The tale of Dotty is perhaps even more heartwarming:
The character of Dotty is inspired by my childhood caregiver in Dallas, Texas. She and I always had a special bond, but as I got older, it became increasingly difficult for me to observe the inequities she suffered as the result of her race, age, and gender. I set out to write a movie that imagined a world in which it was not too late for her to change things. It imagined, even with her in her seventies and me in my forties, that it was not too late for either of us — for any of us — to ultimately become the people we were always meant to be.