Watch Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern Play Struggling Parents in Emotional Trailer for The Son

Hugh Jackman and Laura Dern play parents whose son struggles to cope in the aftermath of their divorce in The Son.

On Tuesday, Sony Pictures Classics released the full trailer for writer-director Florian Zeller's new film, which functions as a prequel to his 2021 release The Father.

In the film, Peter's (Jackman) life with his new partner Beth (Vanessa Kirby) changes dramatically when his ex-wife Kate (Dern) approaches him to tell him their son Nicholas (Zen McGrath) is struggling and missing significant school time.

As the blended family attempts to help their son identify the roots of his mental health struggles, Peter "loses sight of how to hold onto Nicholas in the present" as he juggles work, family life and a disjointed relationship with his own father (Anthony Hopkins), according to an official synopsis.

RELATED: See Hugh Jackman, Laura Dern and Anthony Hopkins in Dramatic First Trailer for 'The Son'

Sony Pictures

The movie's trailer shows Nicholas move in with Peter and Kate, while continuing to skip school.

"I've tried to be there for you. I've tried to give you strength," Peter tells his son in the trailer. "What's going on? Are you on drugs?"

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"I don't know what's happening to me," Nicholas tells Peter as he cries into his shoulder.

In one scene, Kate tells Peter that she feels "like a complete failure."

"There used to be such joy in our family," she says.

The trailer also teases Anthony Hopkins' reprisal of his Academy Award-winning role from The Father in the new film, in which he plays Peter's own father.

Sony Pictures

"You came to tell me what a good dad you are?" Hopkins' character tells Peter in the trailer. "What do you want, applause?"

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At a special screening of The Son in New York City on Monday, hosted by Sony Pictures Classics & The Cinema Society, director Zeller told PEOPLE he felt Jackman and Dern were "deeply connected to what we were talking about" in the new movie.

"It was more about trying to find ways for them to be secure enough, safe enough, to explore what they have inside, deep down, as a father, as a mother, as a son, as a daughter, just to be able to explore the emotion and to allow them to overwhelm the sense more than talking about anything else," he said of preparing with the actors for their roles.

The Son opens in New York City and Los Angeles on Nov. 25.