Dive Brief:

• Swedish fast-fashion retailer H&M on Monday unveiled a short holiday film, “Come Together,” directed by Wes Anderson and starring Adrien Brody.

• The story takes place on a train traveling through a snowy landscape during the holidays. Brody, the conductor of "H&M Lines," navigates the winter weather that conspires to way-lay passengers' plans.

• “This story may resonate more than ever at a time in the world where we could all do with giving a stranger a hug,” Brody said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

H&M’s hire of idiosyncratic filmmaker Anderson is quite a coup for the retailer. Anderson is known for his precise symmetrical shots, sliding pans, messy stories and his penchant for nostalgia, with a melancholy if sometimes edgy twist.

His deadpan yet joyful film about a winter train ride “is the perfect setting for H&M's holiday collection full of relaxed, wearable elegance,” according to Pernilla Wohlfahrt, H&M's creative director and head of design. 

Also known for his eclectic musical soundtracks, the short not-quite-four-minute film features an old-fashioned rendition of "The Little Drummer Boy" as well as John Lennon’s "Happy Christmas". There’s no real overt advertising, though passengers are likely decked in H&M duds.

“It's about mixing the informal with a sense of occasion, capturing the holiday mood for both dressing up and getting cozy with loved ones,” Wohlfahrt said in a statement.