Brit Marling, Ellen Page And Alexander Skarsgard Stare You Down On The East Poster

The East Poster

In 2011, indie ingénue Brit Marling won notice for her work in two mind-bending dramas, Mike Cahill's sci-fi thriller Another Earth and Zal Batmanglij's cult-centric mystery Sound of My Voice. This year at Sundance she and Batmanglij reunited for his follow-up The East, and once more won rave reviews. Katey called the film "the kind of gripping thriller that precious few mainstream Hollywood directors even attempt these days."

The success of Batmanglij and Marling's first collaboration spurred Fox Searchlight to commit to financing and distributing their second. So while other indies fought for the focus of distributors at Sundance, The East was there with an already guaranteed theatrical release. The day following its premiere, The East had a trailer online along with a teaser poster. But its latest promotional poster—courtesy of Black Book—brings its stars, Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgard and Ellen Page to the fore along with some unnerving promises.

What is The East? A terrorist thriller unlike any you've seen before. Named for a vigilante group dedicated to executing covert attacks on major corporations, this already acclaimed drama focuses on an undercover operative (Marling) from an elite private intelligence firm sent in to investigate The East. However, much like one of the protagonists of Sound of My Voice, she begins to change her perspective once she's brought into the inner circle of this exclusive band of anarchists. Shiloh Fernandez, Patricia Clarkson, Julia Ormond and Toby Kebbell co-star.

Considering the seductive storytelling ability Batmanglij showed with Sound of My Voice, it's likely The East will play well to art house crowds. But with its gorgeous and engaging leads—proudly touted on this cryptic poster—there's also a good chance Fox Searchlight could wrangle in more mainstream moviegoers with this tale of corporate sabotage and inner turmoil.

Look for The East on it's new release date, May 31st. In the mean time, check out their site WeAreTheEast.com.

Kristy Puchko

Staff writer at CinemaBlend.