Set to release in the United States on 28 October 2022 ‘Armageddon Time‘ has prepared its viewers for a heavily emotional ride through its trailer. The film was already premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, where it received a seven-minute applause.
The ‘Interstellar‘ actress, Anne Hathaway, and the ‘Succession’ actor, Jeremy Strong, will play the parents of a young Paul Gruff (Banks Repeta), a character who shares autobiographical elements with the director and writer, James Gray.
Time Winds Back To 1980s America In ‘Armageddon Time’
The film is set in the 1980s, Queens, US, which shows the American Jewish Gruff family, big and always smiling. The Reagan Revolution has set in. Stock markets are booming and the economy is expanding. Does this ripe opportunity influence the Gruff family? The answer is yes. Esther (Anne Hathaway) seems to envision “The American Dream” for both her sons, where making piles of money is the highest priority. Unfortunately, we see the younger son, Paul wanting to pursue the arts.
Strong, on ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert‘ spoke of America’s “difficulty of living with integrity” when the “market was God“. He further said we see the “seismic changes” in the lives of this family and the changes in the economy in the backdrop.
We also come across the ‘white backlash’ movement in the movie. Where in 1980s, white Americans found the advances of African Americans in their society strongly distasteful. In the trailer itself, we see Jaylin Webb who plays Johnny, Paul’s black friend, being slammed here and there either by police or bullies.
Caught between treating his friend right and meeting his parents’ expectations, Paul himself suffers in his new school and from bullies. In this claustrophobia of predicaments, we see the struggles of a family sticking together.
Read more: “Working With You Has Been A Career Highlight”- Anne Hathaway Open Up About Co-Star Jared Leto.
How Anne Hathaway And Jeremy Strong Feel About Portraying The Director’s Parents
During a talk with Deadline Hollywood, James Gray confirmed that while writing the story of ‘Armageddon Time‘ he did base the foundation of the characters of Paul’s parents on his own. Anne and Jeremy both agreed that playing Gray’s parents was a “responsibility”.
The major inquiry on the characters involved questions about Gray’s parents. Anne revealed that “those are very personal questions”. However, both actors are glad that the communication between the three was “respectful, sensitive and loving”. Strong said their talk with Gray had reached a “poetic” level.
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