From the looks of the emotional two minute trailer for Fences, Denzel Washington is gunning for his third Academy Award while Viola Davis very well may bring home her first.
The film, based on August Wilson’s 1987 Pulitzer Prize winning play with the same name takes place in 1950’s Pittsburgh. Washington plays Troy Maxson, a garbage collector who’s dream of making it to baseball’s major league were thwarted due to their discriminatory policies. How To Get Away With Murder‘s Viola Davis, plays Maxson’s wife Rose and Jovan Adepo plays the couple’s son, Cory.
In the clip, Cory asks his father why doesn’t he like him, which later leads to an emotionally charged confrontation between Washington and Davis about the life they’ve built with one another.
Themes of racism, infidelity, and family woes are all explored in the powerful film, which Washington also directed. Watch the trailer for Fences below. The film hits theaters Christmas Day.