Netflix's "Trinkets" Releases First Trailer for YA Drama About Shoplifting and Friendship
Teen Vogue has the exclusive first look.
By Gabe Bergado
Allyson Riggs/Netflix
Trinkets is a story about friendship. Just like lots of friend groups, Elodie, Moe, and Tabitha, share a common interest — but it just so happens that their common interest is, well, shoplifting.
Teen Vogue has the first look at the trailer for the forthcoming Netflix series, which is based off the 2013 YA novel by Kirsten "Kiwi" Smith. It follows the group of girls after they meet each other in Shoplifters Anonymous. At first glance, the three high schoolers are worlds apart. Elodie (Brianna Hildebrand) is the new girl in town, described as the "ultimate outsider" and intimidated by the unfamiliar surroundings and still in the process of grieving after a traumatic life event. Snarky, tough, and defiant, Moe (Kiana Madeira) might come off as a misfit at first, but there's plenty under this facade. And then there's Tabitha (Quintessa Swindell), the queen bee of the high school, an untouchable vision of perfection who has her own skeletons in the closet. But everything changes once the three meet after being sent to the support group for kleptomaniacs.
"The healing power of friendship is the story that I wanted to tell, the magic of friendship, the romance of friendship," Kiwi tells Teen Vogue. "Isn't friendship the most important thing in life? Meeting a new person can change your life — making a new friend has saved mine many times."
A prolific screenwriter with movie credits that include 10 Things I Hate About You, Legally Blonde, The Ugly Truth and The House Bunny, Kiwi also served as an executive producer for Trinkets. She was excited to watch as her novel went from page to screen because it also meant collaborating with other women writers (including Amy Andelson, Emily Meyer, and showrunner Linda Gase). So while they were bringing to life the story of new friendships with the three shoplifters, they were also experiencing that rush of camaraderie between themselves. And since the book was published back in 2013, Kiwi knew that they could expand and shift the characters to better reflect today's world by exploring LGBTQ issues and how teens today process grief and loss.
In the trailer, viewers get to see a bit of Elodie, Moe, and Tabitha meeting for the first time and their eventual connection. When the three of them end up at a clothing store, Moe challenges them to see "who can get the best sh*t in the shortest amount of time." They also have a code of three simple rules. One: be invisible. Two: only lift with people you trust. Three: whatever you do, don't get caught. When it comes to that last one, looks like Elodie has learned some tricks along the way — after being stopped by a security guard, she yaks up a puddle of slurpee.
And while the trailer teases plenty of fun and shenanigans, Kiwi and the rest of the team were mindful about not glamorizing shoplifting. It's very much a criminal act, plus there are often times underlying issues at hand. "A lot of young women are perhaps drawn to it because they don't have enough control and power so it's a way to seize it even if it's misguided. It's a way to fill some holes that you have inside with possessions," Kiwi says. "I really wanted to get into what are the things that make you susceptible to this addiction. It's a real thing. We wanted to explore all of these things in a way as earnest and true as possible."
Additionally, shoplifting is an entry point into Trinkets, but the motor of the series is the friendship between the trio. There's a lot going on in these young women's lives and Kiwi says that the focus shifts to being much more about their relationships than stealing things.
"It's also about looking beyond how someone might seem on the surface and finding that if you get to know them, you can find unexpected connections and value in people," she adds. "I hope people take away a feeling of openness, that they can walk into any room and meet a person that can change the course of their life."
You can watch Trinkets on Netflix starting June 14. In the meantime, check out the trailer below.
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KeywordsNetflix