A year after presenting The Sea of Trees to international buyers at Cannes, Matthew McConaughey and Gus Van Sant are back to show off the finished product In Competition at the festival. McConaughey leads as Arthur Brennan, an American who travels to Aokigahara (aka The Sea of Trees) in Japan, a dense forest known for its high suicide rate. Shortly after finding the perfect place to take his own life, Arthur runs into a Japanese man (Ken Watanabe) who's lost his way and feels compelled to do what he can to get this man to safety.

Deadline just score the first clip from the film and it looks to reveal the very moment when Arthur chooses between sending Watanbe's character on his way alone or making the trek back with him. You can check out The Sea of Trees clip for yourself below. Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions just acquired the domestic rights to the film, which also stars Naomi Watts.

Here's the official synopsis for The Sea of Trees via Cannes:

It’s love and loss that lead Arthur Brennan, across the world to Japan’s Aokigahara, a mysterious dense forest known as The Sea of Trees lapping the foothills of Japan’s Mount Fuji – a place where people go to contemplate life and death. Arthur enters the depths of the forest and loses himself beyond the guiding ribbons threaded through the trees by many before him. Having found the perfect place to die, Arthur encounters Takumi Nakamura, a Japanese man who also appears to have lost his way. Unable to leave Takumi behind, Arthur invests all of his remaining energy into saving Takumi and returning him to safety. The two men embark on a journey of reflection and survival, which affirms Arthur’s will to live and reconnects him to his love with his wife.

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Image via Lionsgate