ComingSoon is debuting the exclusive trailer for the upcoming drama The Subject, starring Jason Biggs (Orange Is the New Black) in director/producer Lanie Zipoy’s (17 Things I Wish I Could Tell You Since You Died, Kid Sister) feature film directorial debut.
The film will be released theatrically by Gravitas Ventures in more than 10 markets beginning with Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Seattle, and Detroit, among many more, and across TVOD and Digital platforms throughout North America – all beginning on October 22, 2021.
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“Phil Waterhouse (Biggs) is a successful documentary filmmaker with a thriving career, brilliant girlfriend and a lovely suburban home,” reads the official synopsis. “His last film–The Price of Brotherhood–was a rousing critical and commercial success. During its making, though, baby-faced Harlem teenager Malcolm was murdered. Now, journalists, who once lauded him, hound Phil about his role in Malcolm’s death, and he is haunted by fears he could have prevented it. While working on his latest project, someone films his every move. With the tables turned, Phil is unnerved being the subject of someone else’s movie. As his world collapses around him, he preps for a showdown with the person who threatens all that he holds dear.”
Check out the exclusive trailer below:
“The Subject is America today,” the synopsis continues. “America 2020. America 2014. America 1992. America 1968. America 1919. America 1865. America 1619. Chisa Hutchinson’s (upcoming: Showtime’s Three Women and Hulu’s Tell Me Lies) incisive layered screenplay was written in 2010 and finds its way in the world at a time when the themes it unpacks – Black Lives Matter, interrogation of white saviorhood and white supremacy, and the ethics/responsibilities of artists – are pivotally central to conversations and protests around the United States. The Subject adds to those conversations and will encourage thoughtful debate around these issues at a time when thoughtful debate is most needed.”
The movie also stars Emmy nominee Aunjanue Ellis (If Beale Street Could Talk, Lovecraft Country), Anabelle Acosta (Quantico, Ballers), Carra Patterson (Straight Outta Compton, Turner & Hooch), Nile Bullock (Ray Donovan, Bull), and Caleb Eberhardt (Judas and the Black Messiah, The Post).
“This is a film about all the nuanced little ways in which notions of supremacy distance white people from other humans,” said Hutchinson. “It’s a long ramp with a barely perceptible incline that ultimately leads to someone standing by and watching while a Black person is killed. Or maybe even doing the killing.”
“When speaking about The Subject, it is often assumed to be an actual documentary because the film hews close to life as we know it,” added Zipoy. “It is achingly real, and more heartbreaking by the day. I am grateful to Chisa for her bold script and the actors for their amazing commitment to tell a delicate, yet hard-hitting story.”
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The Subject has won more than 30 awards at film festivals around the globe. The movie is produced by Megan Kingery (Broadway’s Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, Blue Man World), Galia Eden (You Can’t Do That, The 8 Men You Meet in NYC), Jess Weiss (American Insurrection, Not Without Hope), and Zipoy. Executive producers include Biggs, Ellis, Acosta, and Hutchinson.
