The Damned Trailer: Roberto Minervini Ventures West in Cannes Award-Winning Film Set to Release This May

      Roberto Minervini, a filmmaker known for creating work that feels intensely personal and vibrant (such as Stop the Pounding Heart and What You Gonna Do When The World’s On Fire?), has taken an unexpected path with his latest film. The Damned, which won the Un Certain Regard Best Director award at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, transports viewers to the Civil War's frontier, following a group of volunteer soldiers. Grasshopper Film has acquired the film for release starting May 16, and the first trailer is now available.

      The synopsis reads: “Winter 1862. Amid the Civil War, a company of volunteer soldiers is dispatched by the US Army to the western territories to patrol the uncharted borderlands. As their mission evolves, the purpose of their engagement begins to slip away.”

      In his review, Jake Kring-Schreifels noted, “While The Damned sometimes feels like a reenactment, Minervini effectively underscores the aimless priorities of war on its marginalized and overlooked individuals. Throughout his career, the Italian director (who has resided in the United States for over two decades) has sought to dissolve the lines between documentary and narrative (through films like Stop Pounding the Heart, The Other Side, and What You Gonna Do When the World’s on Fire?), capturing the overlooked and ordinary aspects of life with non-professional actors whose lack of fame contributes to an atmosphere of authenticity. He explores how landscapes and circumstances affect people, shifting between fiction and reality and leveraging that tension to uncover a deeper truth.”

      Watch the trailer below.