Annapurna has just released the first trailer for If Beale Street Could Talk. Based on the novel by James Baldwin, the story follows lovers Fonny and Tish who must race against the clock to free Fonny after he is false accused of rape and Tish is pregnant with his baby.

You don’t really get that plot synopsis from this trailer, and like the trailer for director Barry Jenkins’ previous movie, Moonlight, it’s all about finding the mood. The film looks absolutely riveting with the gorgeous visuals and powerful emotions we’ve now come to expect from Jenkins work. This is one of my must-see films at TIFF this year, and it could be a serious player in the 2018 awards season.

Check out the If Beale Street Could Talk trailer below. The film opens November 30th and stars Kiki Layne, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Michael Beach, Dave Franco, Diego Luna, Pedro Pascal, Ed Skrein, Brian Tyree Henry, and Regina King.

Here’s the synopsis for James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk:

In this honest and stunning novel, James Baldwin has given America a moving story of love in the face of injustice. Told through the eyes of Tish, a nineteen-year-old girl, in love with Fonny, a young sculptor who is the father of her child, Baldwin’s story mixes the sweet and the sad. Tish and Fonny have pledged to get married, but Fonny is falsely accused of a terrible crime and imprisoned. Their families set out to clear his name, and as they face an uncertain future, the young lovers experience a kaleidoscope of emotions–affection, despair, and hope. In a love story that evokes the blues, where passion and sadness are inevitably intertwined, Baldwin has created two characters so alive and profoundly realized that they are unforgettably ingrained in the American psyche.