Fox Searchlight has released a new theatrical Calvary trailer for writer/director John Michael McDonagh’s (The Guard) drama.  The film stars Brendan Gleeson as a good priest who is told during confession that he will be killed by a man who was abused by a priest as a child.  As he considers his own mortality, the priest continues to reach out and help the members of his church.  This trailer highlights a darkly comic tone that underlines the deeper themes of the film, and Gleeson looks to be on point as the protagonist.  Matt called the pic a “dark, complex, and demanding meditation on faith” in his review, and I’m definitely looking forward to checking out the full feature when it hits theaters.

Hit the jump to watch the new Calvary trailer.  The film also stars Chris O’Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen, Dylan Moran, Isaach De Bankole, M. Emmet Walsh, Marie-Josee Croze, Domhnall Gleeson, and David Wilmot.  Calvary opens on August 1st.

Click over to Apple to watch the Calvary trailer in HD.

Here’s the official synopsis for Calvary:

Calvary's Father James (Brendan Gleeson) is a good priest who is faced with sinister and troubling circumstances brought about by a mysterious member of his parish. Although he continues to comfort his own fragile daughter (Kely Reilly) and reach out to help members of his church with their various scurrilous moral—and often comic—problems, he feels sinister forces closing in, and begins to wonder if he will have the courage to face his own personal Calvary.