Usually when Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow) makes a movie about an event that changes the world, said event is filled with tons of CGI explosions, massive natural disasters and Barack Obama’s house getting destroyed. But with Stonewall the filmmaker is changing dramatic gears, leaving behind his summer blockbuster stylings to tell of a critical moment in the origin of the Gay Pride movement.
Emmerich, who is openly gay, has been a vocal campaigner for the LGBT community for years, so Stonewall is very much a bit of a passion project for the German born director. And going by the first trailer for the film, Emmerich seems to have comfortably made the switch to telling a much smaller story than his usual fare, but one that may just be his most important
Rapidly rising star Jeremy Irvine (War Horse, The Railway Man) stars this time around, looking to keep alive his solid track record when it comes to period dramas. Check out the trailer below.
STONEWALL is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build. This emotion runs through Danny and the entire community of young gays, lesbians and drag queens who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger. With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born.
Stonewall also stars Jonny Beauchamp, Caleb Landry Jones, Joey King, Karl Glusman, Vlademir Alexis, Alexandre Nachi, Matt Craven, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Ron Perlman. It is scheduled for internayional release on September 25, 2015.
Last Updated: August 5, 2015
