Spinning Into Butter Trailer (2009)

The trailer for Spinning Into Butter.

Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex & the City, The Family Stone, Failure to Launch) gives a stunning performance in a powerful adaptation of Rebecca Gilman’s controversial play, hailed by Time Magazine as one of the year’s best.

Sarah Daniels (Parker) has barely settled into her new job as Dean of Students at a small elite college when a series of hate crimes throws her world into turmoil. Because of Sarah’s experience at an inner-city school, the investigation becomes her responsibility. She calls the police, only to find her every decision challenged by Dean Catherine Kenney (Miranda Richardson, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Phantom of the Opera) and President Winston Garvey (James Rebhorn, Cold Mountain, The Talented Mr. Ripley), who are more concerned with maintaining the school’s image than solving the case.

An anonymous call brings investigative reporter Aaron Carmichael (Mykelti Williamson, Lucky Number Slevin, After the Sunset, Forrest Gump) to the campus and Sarah is ordered to be his escort in order to prevent negative publicity. Against Sarah’s advice, Professor Burton Strauss (Beau Bridges, Jerry Maguire, Sidekicks, The Fabulous Baker Boys) holds a “Forum on Race” which turns into a riot and Sarah is forced to watch as the situation spins out of control.

The discovery of the truth behind the hate crimes shocks Sarah into realizing that she cannot run from her own prejudices; she must confront them.

Spinning Into Butter reveals the racial tensions that still simmer under the surface of our politically correct society and challenges us all to look deeper within ourselves.