Fox Searchlight has released a new The Birth of a Nation trailer. Based on a true story, the film follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker, who also wrote and directed the picture), a literate slave and preacher who leads an uprising against his master and others in the antebellum South.  It's at turns a violent and harrowing picture, but also an incredibly necessary one.

While this trailer isn’t as strong as the teaser trailer, it does a good job of condensing down the plot and selling the central conflict.  It hints at the intense violence that's going to take place without relishing in it. The trailer also doesn’t shy away from the religious aspect, which is the strongest element of the film. Turner digs deep into how religion can be stretched and manipulated to achieved differing ends, and I’m glad that Fox Searchlight is touching on that in the trailer. It may not win over the religious crowd, but it’s a valuable viewpoint worth showing.

Watch the Birth of a Nation trailer below, and click here to read my review from Sundance. The film also stars Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Penelope Ann Miller, Aunjane Ellis, Jackie Earle Haley, Mark Boone Jr, Colman Domingo, Dwight Henry, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Gabrielle Union. The Birth of a Nation opens in theaters on October 7th.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Birth of a Nation:

Set against the antebellum South, THE BIRTH OF A NATION follows Nat Turner (Nate Parker), a literate slave and preacher, whose financially strained owner, Samuel Turner (Armie Hammer), accepts an offer to use Nat's preaching to subdue unruly slaves. As he witnesses countless atrocities - against himself and his fellow slaves - Nat orchestrates and uprising in the hopes of leading his people to freedom.