The Damned Trailer: Roberto Minervini Heads West in Cannes Winner Arriving This May

A filmmaker whose work always renders as thrillingly intimate and alive, Roberto Minervini (Stop the Pounding Heart, What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire?) took another unexpected turn in his latest film. The Damned, which picked up the Un Certain Regard Best Director prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, heads to the frontier of the Civil War as we follow a group of volunteer soldiers. Picked up by Grasshopper Film for a release beginning May 16, the first trailer has now arrived.

Here’s the synopsis: “Winter 1862. In the midst of the Civil War, the US Army sends a company of volunteer soldiers to the western territories, with the task of patrolling the unchartered borderlands. As their mission ultimately changes course, the meaning behind their engagement begins to elude them.”

Jake Kring-Schreifels said in his review, “While The Damned sometimes resembles a reenactment, Minervini makes a valid attempt to highlight war’s aimless priorities on its marginalized and unheralded members. Throughout his career, the Italian director (who’s lived in the United States for more than two decades) has aimed to blur the boundaries between documentary and narrative (Stop Pounding the Heart, The Other Side, What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?), capturing the forgotten and mundane aspects of life with non-professional actors whose ambiguity and lack of star power invite authenticity. He’s interested in the ways landscapes and conditions impact people, toggling between fiction and reality and using that tension to mine a deeper truth.”

See the trailer below.

The post The Damned Trailer: Roberto Minervini Heads West in Cannes Winner Arriving This May first appeared on The Film Stage.