During the 2019 Emmy Awards on Sunday, Netflix released a trailer for what may be one of its awards-season hopefuls in 2020.
American Son, based on the Broadway play by Christopher Demos-Brown, stars Kerry Washington as Kendra Ellis-Connor, whose teenage son is missing. She tries to piece together what’s happened in a South Florida police station. Steven Pasquale, Jeremy Jordan and Eugene Lee also star; all four leads are reprising their roles from the play.
The movie, which the streamer is billing as a “Netflix Television Event,” had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival; the trailer is the first footage released to the wider public. It presents four distinct viewpoints on the case while navigating the unique dynamic of an interracial couple trying to raise a mixed-race son.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s review of American Son says its adaptation for Netflix “makes perfect sense,” noting that its “intimate intensity” will come across to home viewers.
Tony Award winner Kenny Leon (the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun), who directed the play, also helms the film. Washington and Pilar Savone executive produce via their Simpson Street banner; Jeffrey Richards and Rebecca Gold are also executive producers.
American Son is scheduled to premiere Nov. 1 on Netflix. Watch the trailer below.
