In 2010, Jennifer Lawrence burst onto the screen with her powerful and haunting performance in the dark indie drama Winter’s Bone. Since then, she has become one of the youngest women to win the Best Actress Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook, while also being the face of not one but two franchises with X-Men and The Hunger Games. For a few years, however, her performances have largely flown under the radar but change seems imminent with the arrival of her new film, Causeway. Starting a new phase in her career as both actress and producer with her production company Excellent Cadaver, Lawrence is entering the awards conversation in a big way. Telling the story of a veteran’s return home and the trauma she has incurred, Causeway looks like it could be a powerful story that will win over audiences everywhere.
Starring alongside Lawrence is Brian Tyree Henry as James. Henry's biggest mark on pop culture so far is his acclaimed role as Paper Boi on Donald Glover’s hit show Atlanta but he has also made a name for himself in film with movies like Joker, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as well. Other cast members include Linda Emond as Gloria and Stephen McKinley Henderson as Dr. Lucas. Causeway is directed by Lila Neugebauer. Though this is Neugebauer’s feature film debut, she is far from a novice. Theater fans will recognize her as one of the most prolific theater directors of her generation, having directed several plays off-Broadway and made her Broadway debut with the often-underrated Kenneth Lonergan play The Waverly Gallery. The production won the Tony Award for Best Revival and Best Actress for veteran comedienne Elaine May. Since then, Neugebauer has shifted to television, directing episodes of critically acclaimed TV series like Maid and The Sex Lives of College Girls.
Here is the official synopsis for Causeway:
Jennifer Lawrence stars as Lynsey, a soldier struggling to adjust back home in New Orleans following a traumatic injury. When she meets local mechanic James, the pair begin to forge an unexpected bond.
For anybody who can’t wait to see this intimate drama, here’s everything we know about how, when, and where you can watch this new awards contender.
Is Causeway Coming to Movie Theaters?
Causeway previously premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2022, and will be distributed to US theaters by A24 on November 4, 2022.
Will Causeway Be Available on Streaming the Same Day as Theaters?
Since Causeway is a co-production between A24 and Apple TV+, the film will be released on Apple TV+ on the same day as it is released in theaters. The movie is an Apple Original so you won't be able to stream it anywhere else. In case you don't have a subscription to Apple TV+, the service has plans starting at $6.99/month, with a free 7-day trial period.
Is There A Trailer For Causeway?
A full-length trailer for Causeway was released on October 6, 2022. The trailer opens with Lawrence nervous and seemingly alone on a bench. The camera cuts to James (Brian Tyree Henry), who cuts the tension with two simple words: “You good?” The trailer intercuts several images of Lawrence as Lynsey alone in her house, her car, and in the city. The people in her life seem to be at their wit's end as she has endless medical examinations. James seems to be the only one who can comfort her from the loneliness she feels in her own hometown. Still, Lynsey’s war is not yet over as she battles her own solitude and her mind. The last image shows Lynsey jumping and emerging from under the water in her pool and gasping for air. Can she break free from her troubles in the same way?
More Movies Like Causeway That You Can Watch Now
While you wait for your local theater to screen this piece of contemporary independent drama, check out these three other films that explore the hardships and personal turmoil that comes from returning home from war.
The Deer Hunter: This Best Picture-winning classic from the 1970s brought to the spotlight the horrors of the Vietnam War. Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter begins in a steelworker community in Western Pennsylvania. Friends Mike, Steven, and Nick are overjoyed at Steven’s upcoming wedding, as well as their enlistment in the Vietnam War. However, the horrors they find once they are made prisoners of war will make them completely different men when and if they come home. Starring Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep in one of her first film roles, The Deer Hunter doesn’t tiptoe around the issue and changed American perception of war and torture.
Mudbound: A more recent film that was unfortunately snubbed in the major categories at the Oscars, Mudbound explores the racial implications of the return of a soldier. Set in rural Mississippi after the Second World War, the film follows the friendship between Jamie McAllan (Garrett Hedlund), a white soldier, and Ronsell Jackson (Jason Mitchell), a black soldier, as they return to their hometown and confide in each other their struggles with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as well as the dangerous consequences of their own closeness. With a breakout performance from decorated singer Mary J. Blige as Ronsell’s mother, this is as sympathetic and historically compelling a film as you can see.
Brothers: Based on the Danish film of the same name by Susanna Bier, Irish director Jim Sheridan puts together a web of lies and desire powerful enough to tear a family apart in Brothers. The movie follows Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire), a presumed dead prisoner of war who comes back home and finds his brother Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal) has taken his place as a father to his kids and partner to his wife Grace (Natalie Portman). Taking its cues from the classic ancient Greek tale, The Odyssey, Brothers is an intimate family drama that contains a tragedy of epic proportions.