Armageddon Time Trailer: James Gray And An A-List Cast Tackle The American Dream

Director James Gray ("The Lost City of Z," "The Immigrant") is back this year with a brand new film in the form of "Armageddon Time," and today brings us that movie's first trailer.

We are getting to that point in the year where the leaves will soon be changing, big film festivals are happening, and that can mean only one thing: awards season is upon us. To that end, this trailer looks like it is catapulting Gray and Focus Features right into the heart of the conversation with a period drama that looks compelling, timely, and heartfelt. Plus, it boasts an A-list cast led by the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Anne Hathaway. Let's see what that looks like, shall we?

The trailer shows us a budding relationship between two young boys, played by Banks Repeta and Jaylin Webb. One of them is white and the other is Black at a time when racial tensions were extremely high, and right out in the open in America. We get a bit of a story hook here, with these boys having to separate this friendship unwillingly due to the rampant racism of the day. But really, this appears to be more of a slice of life drama using the period setting as a way to address very prominent issues.

It looks like an absolute showcase for the ensemble cast, with Hopkins and Hathaway making the most of every second of screen time, while Repeta and Webb look ripe as the movie's breakout stars. Jeremy Strong also figures to be his usual self (that is to say very good), all under the direction of Gray, who is bringing us his first feature since "Ad Astra."

Focus isn't giving us much of a synopsis for the film, with the studio stating that the film is "a deeply personal story on the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the generational pursuit of the American Dream." If that doesn't sound like Oscar bait to me, I don't know what is. But, to be clear, Oscar bait isn't always bad. Oftentimes, it makes for a damn fine film with an unfortunate descriptor attached to it.

Gray wrote the script in addition to his duties as director. Anthony Katagas, Marc Butan, and Rodrigo Teixeira are on board as producers, with Alan Terpins, Marco Tulio Kehdi, Francisco Civita, Beto Gauss, Gustavo Debs, and Lourenco Sant'Anna serving as executive producers.

"Armageddon Time" arrives in select theaters on October 28, 2022, with an expansion to follow.