Focus Features has just released the first trailer for its upcoming revenge thriller, The Card Counter. Written and directed by Paul Schrader, Oscar Isaac stars as William Tell, the titular card counter who lives as anonymously as possible on his travels from casino to casino. He's drawn into a plot by Circ (Tye Sheridan) to exact revenge on a military colonel (Willem Dafoe) who had wronged both men. Tell hopes to redeem himself and Circ, but escaping his past proves impossible, especially after a mysterious financial backer (Tiffany Haddish) stakes Tell for a World Series of Poker tournament.
The Card Counter has a stacked cast, but the talent behind the camera is just as impressive. Schrader is a legendary screenwriter, with an Oscar nomination for best original screenplay for 2017's First Reformed, which he also directed. Martin Scorsese, who directed four of Schrader's scripts — Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Bringing Out the Dead — is executive producing.
The trailer is every bit as stylized as you might expect from Schrader, but with an added slick sheen to match the heist-y premise. The film clearly has some serious themes about guilt and redemption, but the trailer features a number of moments that look downright fun, with the chemistry between Haddish and Isaac looking particularly electric. Those lighter moments are bound to give way to intensity as the plot boils over, making that turn all the more thrilling.
The Card Counter comes to theaters on September 10. Check out the trailer and synopsis below.
Tell (Isaac) just wants to play cards. His spartan existence on the casino trail is shattered when he is approached by Cirk (Sheridan), a vulnerable and angry young man seeking help to execute his plan for revenge on a military colonel (Dafoe). Tell sees a chance at redemption through his relationship with Cirk. Gaining backing from mysterious gambling financier La Linda (Haddish), Tell takes Cirk with him on the road, going from casino to casino until the unlikely trio set their sights on winning a World Series of poker tournament. But keeping Cirk on the straight-and-narrow proves impossible, dragging Tell back into the darkness of his past.