The criminal justice system has been on a roll for the past couple years (this is sarcasm, people), and a new film starring Atlanta‘s Lakeith Stanfield is going to shine a light on its pitfalls. Crown Heights follows the wrongful incarceration of Brooklyn, N.Y. native Colin Warner (played by Stanfield) and his childhood friend Carl “KC” King’s arduous, 20-year effort to bring him home. Carl is played by Nnamdi Asomugha, who doubles as a producer for the film.
In the heavy trailer for the Amazon Studios and IFC Films movie, we see snapshots of Colin’s experience, from the day he was picked up by police, to being beat in prison, to the small ways he and others try to keep his hope alive while life passes him by beyond jail walls. Crown Heights—a true story adapted from a This American Life segment by writer/director Matt Ruskin—debuts in theaters August 25, 2017.
The film also stars Natalie Paul, Bill Camp, Nestor Carbonell and Amari Cheatom. Watch the trailer up top.