The East

 

In a world of corporate influence and power, where does your loyalty lie? The East stars writer-actress Brit Marling as Sarah Moss, a former FBI agent turned private intelligence officer who is about to face the most difficult test of allegiance she’s ever experienced.

 

 

Moss’ new employer, Hiller Brood, specializes in protecting the interests of its powerful corporate clients, at any cost. When the head of a pharmaceutical giant gets targeted by the elusive eco-anarchist group The East, Moss gets assigned to infiltrate the group and stop them before their next attack. With her skills and determination, Moss has no trouble initiating herself into the collective—but stopping them becomes another story altogether. After seeing their plans and joining them on an anti-corporate mission, Moss realizes that The East is way ahead of the counter-intelligence agency; and after living and breathing with the most committed people she has ever met, Moss begins to give The East’s goals another thought. Soon, Moss becomes torn between her duties at Hiller Brood and her newfound connection with The East. Not to mention her budding romance with the group’s charismatic leader, Benji (Alexander Skarsgard)!

 

Written by Zat Batmanglij and Brit Marling and directed by Zat Batmanglij, The East will be released into limited theaters on May 31, 2013. This Fox Searchlight Pictures drama also stars Ellen Page, Patricia Clarkson, Toby Kebbell, and Shiloh Fernandez.

After Earth

 

Danger is real, but fear is a choice. Father-and-son duo Will and Jaden Smith are at it again in After Earth, M. Night Shyamalan’s futuristic thriller about man’s return to the Earth after years of abandonment.

It has been a thousand years since mankind was forced off of the Earth by cataclysmic events, and the Earth’s ecosystem has evolved to become one of the most dangerous in the galaxy. So when teenager Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) and his father Cypher (Will Smith) crash land on Earth, it doesn’t take them long to realize the enormity of what they’re up against. With his father in critical condition, Kitai must lead the journey to the nearest signal post in order to call for help. Facing an uncharted world whose plant and animal life has evolved to fight off the threat of humans, Kitai has to grow up quickly—or die. Father and son must learn to trust each other if they hope to get off the planet alive.

 

 

Written by Gary Whitta and M. Night Shyamalan and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, After Earth will be released on May 31, 2013. This Columbia Pictures (Sony) sci-fi film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action violence and some disturbing images.

 

The Purge

What if on one night each year, you could commit any crime without consequence? The Purge presents a vision of the near future in which rampant violence and prison overcrowding has led the U.S. government to impose strict martial law over the population. As a social experiment, the authoritarian regime (which calls itself the New Founding Fathers of America) decides to sanction one 12-hour period each year during which anything is legal—even murder. During these 12 hours there are no police, no hospitals, no government help whatsoever. The Purge examines just how far one family will go to protect themselves during one of these terrifying nights.

After a trespasser breaks into James Sandlin’s (Ethan Hawke) gated community, he and his wife Mary (Lena Headey) know that they must fight to keep their family alive. But they soon come to realize that self-defense comes with a cost—James and Mary must decide what kind of people they are willing to become in the name of safety. As the clock winds down, James and Mary must find a way to protect themselves without turning into the very monsters that they’re fighting.

Written and directed by James DeMonaco, The Purge will be released on May 31, 2013. This Universal Pictures speculative thriller also stars Adelaide Kane and Max Burkholder.