You don’t have to be at Coachella this week to catch what will likely be its hottest act: the much-buzzed about unveiling of Childish Gambino and Rihanna’s indie film “Guava Island.”
Amazon Prime will stream the new flick spearheaded by Gambino, the stage name of actor Donald Glover, starting Friday just after midnight — a day after its release at the desert music festival.
Don’t sleep on it: The film will only be available for free on Amazon for 18 hours until 6 p.m. Saturday. Then it will mosey over to Twitch and play once at 8 p.m. eastern time Saturday, while simulcasting on Coachella’s YouTube Channel.
The hush-hush “Childish Gambino Production” was filmed in Cuba, and co-stars Ri-Ri and breakout “Black Panther” ingenue Letitia Wright. Glover described it as “timely and timeless” in an interview with Deadline.
“Between Rihanna and the people of Cuba, this is one of my favorite projects I’ve ever worked on,” he said.
You’re all invited to our staycation with @donaldglover and @rihanna. The new #ChildishGambino film #GuavaIsland will be available on Prime Video starting Saturday 4/13 at 12:01am PST. pic.twitter.com/rxXecJEfzp
— Prime Video (@PrimeVideo) April 11, 2019
Glover told Vanity Fair that the film, written by his brother Stephen, was inspired by Fernando Meirelles’s Brazilian crime drama “City of God” and Prince’s “Purple Rain.” In it, Glover plays a local musician character who seeks to organize a music festival for his community.
Back in November, Glover gave fans a sneak peek during his third annual three-day PHAROS Festival in New Zealand, where he screened the two-minute trailer. Fans went nuts at the first look, which had Glover serenading Rihanna with his guitar, bathed in golden island light. Later, rapid-fire shots captured Glover running through the community’s streets amid syncopated drumming, dancing and a kidnapping.
“We live in paradise but none of us actually have the time or the means to live here,” Glover says in the trailer. “We work hard. We deserve a day off. We’re just takin’ what’s ours.”
