After the huge success of Dallas Buyers Club, it was hard not to wonder how Jean-Marc Vallée would be able to top the oscar-winning film. Thankfully, we have the Wild trailer to appease our doubts and gear us up for the film set to open in December. 

It's hard to imagine what would prompt a 26 year old woman to walk 1,100 miles alone- but what came out of it is nothing short of beautiful. Wild captures this beauty and tells the true story of Cheryl Strayed, a woman who confronts her own catastrophe in the wake of her mother's death and decides to go on a 1,000 mile hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. The trailer is definitely enticing as we see Reese Witherspoon go to places we've never seen her go before- climbing mountains, doing heroin (?!), busting up her feet- but most of all, portraying all shades of strength, grief, and courage. 

After viewing the trailer numerous times, here are the five things that stood out to us the most. 

Cinematography by Yves Bélanger 

For a narrative so connected to nature and landscape, cinematography is obviously going to be something we look out for in this film. The trailer has already provided us with stunning shots of the west coast, weaving us in and out of forests and sierras. We're also excited to see how Yves Bélanger, the cinematographer for Dallas Buyers Club, will handle such a vast environment- but judging from the trailer, it's clear he knows what he's doing. 

Reese Witherspoon

When you're playing the role of a woman who walks by herself for 1,000 miles, you're going to be as alone as she is on screen. That's why we can't wait to see how Reese Witherspoon will shine on her own and portray a free spirit like Cheryl's. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited to see Elle Woods stripped down, shooting up, and talking to foxes. 

The Warm and Fuzzies 

Within the first 30 seconds of the trailer Cheryl drops some serious wisdom on us by quoting Emily Dickinson, and then has the nerve to credit herself for the quote in her little notebook (see what I did there?). We're excited to see how Vallée and writer Nick Hornby (An Education, About a Boy) are going to execute a potentially saccharine plot, and whether it'll be sweet in all the right places. Regardless of what happens, it's clear that we'll be walking out of that theater with a newfound sense of strength, and a heart full of warm and fuzzies. 

Natural Lighting 

We're expecting some gorgeous dusky shots from this film, and can't wait to see how the natural West Coast light will be treated. Forget the buzzy headache-inducing fluorescent hospital scenes from Dallas Buyers Club, it looks like Bélanger will be going au naturel for most of the shots in Wild. 

Reese Schleppin' Her Way Through Mountains

We're just as excited as we are curious to see how Reese will handle the arduous labor that goes into hiking in the mountains, and whether she'll be doing all her own stunts! Judging by the trailer, it looks like she'll definitely be putting in the work for a lot of the scenes.