Watch the First Trailer For Anne Hathaway and Jeremy Strong's New Movie Armageddon Time
A semi-autobiographical drama from director James Gray, the Oscar-tipped Armageddon Time is being billed as "a deeply personal story on the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the generational pursuit of the American Dream".
Anne Hathaway and Succession's Jeremy Strong star as Irving and Esther Graff, fictionalized versions of Gray's parents, alongside Anthony Hopkins as Aaron Graff, who's based on the writer-director's grandfather. The movie is based on his upbringing in 1980s Queens, New York, and centers on the youngest son of a Jewish family (Banks Repeta) whose relationship with his Black best friend Johnny (Jaylin Webb) is strained by systemic racism.
Per Deadline, the movie will see Repeta's character getting conflicting advice from his grandfather—who urges him to be a "mensch" and stand up for his friend—and from his mother, who tells him to stay away from Johnny for his own good. He's ultimately sent away to Kew-Forest, a private school that's described as "then a haven for bigots, where students regularly used the N-word, and Fred Trump, father of former President Donald Trump, was on the school’s board of trustees."
Speaking of which, one of the most intriguing aspects of the movie is the casting of Jessica Chastain as Maryanne Trump, the now-retired United States federal judge who's best known to the world as Donald Trump's sister. It's not clear exactly what role she'll play in the family drama, and many sources describe her appearance as a cameo—but given the setting and the time period, it certainly makes sense that the Trumps are in play.
In an interview with Variety, Gray explained that the film explores how deeply ingrained white supremacy perpetuates inequality in America. “It’s impossible to look at the world as currently constructed, at least the Western world... and not see white privilege as one of the guiding mechanisms that are in existence,” said Gray. The private school depicted in the film, he explained, represents "superpower privilege... it’s a system where the same group gets to the top, stays at the top, and they keep everybody else out. And that’s the system we’re running. How do you break that cycle?"
Armageddon Time premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, where it received a rapturous response. It'll be released in a limited run on October 28, and will then expand to theaters nationwide two weeks later.
You Might Also Like