‘Armageddon Time’ Trailer: Anthony Hopkins Inspires His Grandson to Fight Back Against Racism (Video)

In the lineage of films like “Belfast” and “Roma” and upcoming films like “Bardo” and “The Fabelmans” that chart the nostalgic youth of their directors, James Gray’s “Armageddon Time” stands out as a stark commentary on the current MAGA-era of politics.

The first look at “Armageddon Time” shows Anthony Hopkins addressing the film’s young protagonist grandson, who describes his new schoolmates mocking his Black best friend. The boy says he didn’t say anything in response, but Hopkins brings up their own Jewish heritage and the antisemitism their family has faced to inspire him to be better.

“Next time those schmucks say anything bad, you’re going to say something,” Hopkins says in the trailer. “You’re going to be a mensch, okay?”

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“Armageddon Time” stars Hopkins alongside Jeremy Strong and Anne Hathaway, and the film is set in New York in the 1980s Reagan era as it explores the strength of family, the complexity of friendship and the generational pursuit of the American Dream. The film even has Jessica Chastain cameoing as Mary Trump, addressing a school assembly and talking about “handouts” and how you can be anything you want to be because you “earned your way.”

Gray both wrote and directed the film based on his own childhood. The film also stars Banks Repeta, Jaylin Webb, Tovah Feldshuh and Ryan Sell.

Following its debut at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this summer, Focus Features is releasing “Armageddon Time” in theaters, first in limited release on Oct. 28 followed by a nationwide release on Nov. 11.

Check out the first trailer for the film above.

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‘Armageddon Time’ Director James Gray Says the US – and Hollywood – Are ‘in Serious Trouble’