Adapting true-life stories, especially those with infamous endings, is tricky work. So when Christine, a dramatic retelling of the life of 1970s TV reporter Christine Chubbuck, was announced, I was quite curious to see how Craig Shilowich's script would play out under Antonio Campos' direction. The Afterschool and Simon Killer director certainly has some experience with drawing out the tension over the course of a film, but the burden of this film's success falls on the capable shoulders of Rebecca Hall.
And as this first trailer shows, Hall is perhaps giving the performance of her career. Christine promises to be one of those films in which an impending dread hangs over its entirety, but Hall's portrayal of the title character's descent into depression adds another layer of tense anticipation to the run up to the inevitable conclusion. You can see what our own Matt Goldberg thought about the film in his review from Sundance here.
Also starring Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, Maria Dizzia, Timothy Simons, J. Smith-Cameron, and Kim Shaw, Christine opens in theaters October 14th.
Watch the first trailer for Christine below:
Here's the film's official synopsis:
Rebecca Hall stars in director Antonio Campos' third feature film, CHRISTINE, the story of a woman who finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a spiraling personal life and career crisis. Christine, always the smartest person in the room at her local Sarasota, Florida news station, feels like she is destined for bigger things and is relentless in her pursuit of an on-air position in a larger market. As an aspiring newswoman with an eye for nuance and an interest in social justice, she finds herself constantly butting heads with her boss (Tracy Letts), who pushes for juicier stories that will drive up ratings. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine’s diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker (Michael C. Hall) initiates a friendship which ultimately becomes yet another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn.
Based on true events, Campos’ intimate and sensitive portrait of a woman on the brink is grounded by Hall’s impeccable and transformative performance as Christine. Rounding out the supporting cast are superlative performances by Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”), Tracy Letts (“Homeland,” Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright), Maria Dizzia (“Orange Is The New Black”), Timothy Simons (“Veep”) and J. Smith-Cameron (“Margaret”).
