For those of you who’ve expressed that you’re suffering from “black rom-com fatigue,” here’s your first look at the first trailer for something that might be of interest.
It’s been quite an active last 12 months for Jeff Clanagan and his CodeBlack Films, since the launch of last year’s partnership with Lionsgate (also a company that’s been on a hit streak lately).
On the heels of successful releases like Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain, George Tillman Jr.’s The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete, and Shola Lynch’s Free Angela And All Political Prisoners, Codeblack picked up US distribution rights to Forest Whitaker‘s thriller Repentance (previously titled Vipaka), over the summer, with plans to release the psychological thriller on February 28, 2014, in limited release.
The southern gothic stars Whitaker, Anthony Mackie, Sanaa Lathan, Nicole Ari Parker and Mike Epps.
It made its world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, UT earlier this year, and was the opening night film at the Pan African Film Festival in February.
The film’s official synopsis reads:
Years after a drunken car crash that almost took his life, Thomas Carter (Anthony Mackie) has reinvented himself as a therapist/spiritual advisor who advocates a synthesis of world religions and positivity. He’s parlayed this vocation into a successful book release that one day draws the attention of Angel Sanchez (Forest Whitaker), a profoundly troubled man fixated on the “untimely” death of his mother. When Carter takes on Sanchez as a personal client in an effort to raise funds for his indebted brother Ben (Mike Epps), things quickly take a turn for the worse. Angel needs much more than a simple life coach. What may be simple to grasp for some is the idea that single actions in the past comprise tidal waves of reactions in the present.
French/Lebanese director Philippe Caland (Boxing Helena) directed the film.
The Juntobox Films production was scripted by Shintaro Shimosawa, producer by Nina Yang Bongiovi, Whitaker and Calland.
Here’s your first look at the film’s trailer, which promises a genre tale that’s unlike much of what this set of actors typically feature in.
CodeBlack’s Clanagan previously revealed plans to produce two to three features a year, in various genres, stating, “We wanted to give ourselves time to build up our infrastructure rather than rushing out titles.”
The company also recently picked up Halle Berry’s Sybil-like tale, Frankie & Alice, for an April 4, 2014 release.
See Best Man Holiday star Sanaa Lathan take a walk on the dark side in Repentance, when it opens on February 28, 2014.
Check out the trailer and poster art below: