It's really too early in the day to be crying, but that's what watching a Welcome to Marwen trailer will do to you. The upcoming feature film from Robert Zemeckis is based on a documentary, Marwencol, by Jeff Malmberg, which tells the story of Mark Hogancamp, who loses his memories after being beaten almost to death, and as a form a therapy (because he can afford no other), he makes a replica of a tiny Belgian village and populates it with characters that represent him and those in his life -- both loved ones, and his attackers.

Steve Carell plays Hogancamp in the Zemeckis film (which Zemeckis co-wrote with Caroline Thompson), and is joined by  Leslie Mann, Merritt Wever, Eiza González, Gwendolyn Christie, Janelle Monáe, Leslie Zemeckis, Diane Kruger, and Neil Jackson. Welcome to Marwen opens in theaters on Friday, December 21st; check out the new trailer below, and feel it warming the cockles of your heart pretty much immediately:

Here’s the official synopsis for Welcome to Marwen:

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Flight, Cast Away) directs Steve Carell in the moving true story of one broken man’s fight as he discovers how artistic imagination can restore the human spirit.

 

The screenplay for Welcome to Marwen was written by Caroline Thompson and Zemeckis, while Oscar®-winning producer Steve Starkey (Forrest Gump, Flight), Jack Rapke (Cast Away, Flight), and Cherylanne Martin (The Pacific, Flight) of Zemeckis’ Universal-based ImageMovers banner produce alongside the director. It is executive produced by Jackie Levine, as well as Jeff Malmberg, who directed the riveting 2010 documentary upon which this film is based.