Rebel Wilson Returns to Her 'Serious Actress' Roots in The Almond and the Seahorse Trailer

Rebel Wilson stars as a woman trying to help her husband recover from a traumatic brain injury in IFC Films' upcoming movie The Almond and the Seahorse.

On Tuesday, IFC Films exclusively shared the first trailer for Wilson's upcoming movie with PEOPLE, showcasing the difficulties at play as multiple characters in the movie deal with the long-term effects of their partners' health struggles.

In the movie, archeologist Sarah (Wilson) deals with the complications of her husband Joe's (Celyn Jones) TBI, while architect Toni (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and her partner Gwen (Trine Dyrholm) "have been imprisoned in a fifteen-year loop" due to a similar injury, according to an official synopsis.

Courtesy of IFC Films

"Love is the only thing that keeps them all going but something has changed," the official synopsis reads, as both Sarah and Toni try to salvage their relationships.

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"When I started acting over two decades ago, I started as a serious actress," Wilson tells PEOPLE. "So I really wanted to be the next Dame Judi Dench and was performing on stage doing classics like Shakespeare and Marlowe. It was only in 2003 when I won a scholarship from Nicole Kidman that I got to 'specialize' in comedy and went to comedy school in New York."

Courtesy of IFC Films

"So to now do The Almond and the Seahorse felt like a return to what I was doing right at the start of my career," Wilson adds. "I know it's very different to the glossy Hollywood comedies I've been doing in the past decade, but I had to dust off my serious acting chops for this role and I'm so proud of the film and the performances in it!"

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The movie's title refers to the parts of the brain that "lay down new memories and hold on to old ones," according to IFC Films.

In the trailer, both Sarah and Toni wonder when or whether their partners will fully return to their old selves.

Courtesy of IFC Films

Wilson explains that her character Sarah "really wants a baby and struggles with the decision to stay with her husband" because her "desire to become a mother is so strong."

It's a feeling that held personal significance for the actress, who recently welcomed a baby girl via surrogate, through the making of the film.

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"During the filming I received some terrible news that all my harvested eggs up until that point had not survived being thawed," Wilson says. "So I'd lost a huge amount of weight and been through 3 surgeries at that point and no viable embryos. It was devastating and yet I knew that my desire to become a mother was so strong, that I needed to keep trying."

"It was feelings of loss, feelings of hope — and it all played into my performance," Wilson adds. "It was a very emotional time."

The Almond and the Seahorse will be available in select theaters and to rent on Apple TV and on Prime Video Dec. 16.