Morgan Freeman and Juliette Binoche take the lead in an intense new trailer for Lionsgate's upcoming thriller Paradise Highway. Starring Binoche as a truck driver roped into an illegal human trafficking operation and Freeman as the veteran officer tasked with tracking her down and bringing her, and the girl she's been stuck with, to safety, the film is set around the unsavory part of the trucking industry that lies beneath the surface. The pair is on a dangerous cross-country journey both to protect the innocent girl and stop whoever is behind the scheme.
The trailer opens up on a dark note that sets the stage for the grand chase to come. Freeman's character, a member of the force going on 50 years of service, is called to a residence where a young girl was kept locked in a cage. She's gone missing, leading Freeman on a hunt with his partner to find her and squash whatever human trafficking operation she was taken by. Meanwhile, Sally (Binoche) goes about her usual trucking duties until her brother Dennis (Frank Grillo) asks for a favor from prison. In order to ensure that her brother isn't killed, she's forced to take the same girl Freeman and the police are after to her destination.
From there, the state line-hopping trip begins, with Freeman hot on the heels of Sally and the girl whose name is Leila. After Leila seemingly kills the man whom she was supposed to be delivered to, Sally resolves to help her, making her a target of the very people that put her up to smuggling in the first place. While tensions are high with Sally and Leila in grave danger and Freeman close behind, the trailer also teases the heart of the film. Through Sally and Leila's growing bond as they're on the lam and Freeman's determination to do right by the girl and those that want to help her, the film aims for a very human look at the people caught up in the horrors of human trafficking.
Joining Freeman and Binoche is a powerful supporting cast that features Grillo, Finley, Cameron Monaghan, Veronica Ferres, and Christiane Seidel. The film is written and directed by Anna Gutto in what will be her feature debut. It's a high profile start for the Nowegian creative who previously served as the second director and co-director for several episodes of Netlfix's Home for Christmas and created the short film A Lucky Man. That short earned her a win at the Calcutta International Cult Film Festival in the student film category.
Silver Reel's Claudia Bluemhuber serves as a producer for the film alongsie Georgia Bayliff and Mike Leahy for the banner. Executive producers for the film include Barry Brooker of Grindstone Entertainment Group, Florian Dargel, Alexander Jooss, and Karol Griffiths for Silver Reel, Gary Leff for Southland, Dorothea Sick Thiess for Protect the Planet, and Silke Wilfinger for Silkway Films.
Paradise Highway releases on digital, on-demand, and in theaters on July 29. Check out the trailer and poster below.