The first trailer for War Pony, the directorial debut of Riley Keough and Gina Gammell, is here – and it promises to be an unflinching, tender coming-of-age tale.
The movie follows the interlinked stories of two Oglala Lakota people on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota: 23-year-old Bill (Jojo Bapteise Whiting) and 12-year-old Matho (LaDainian Crazy Thunder). We get a glimpse of Bill and Matho in the trailer, with Bill trying his hardest to make something of himself, while Matho is desperate to grow up. With the protagonists dealing with everything from tense family relationships to destructive life choices, this looks like a gritty realist drama shining a light on this particular American community.
War Pony not only marks Keough and Gammell's first time in the director's chair, both leads are also first-time actors and screenwriters Franklin Sioux Bob and Bill Reddy are making their debuts too. The movie has been several years in the making, with the directors working closely with those who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and War Pony won the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature Film at last year's Cannes Film Festival.
Keough is best known for her acting roles in series like Daisy Jones & The Six and movies like Zola and Mad Max: Fury Road. Gammell, meanwhile, has produced several projects that Keough has starred in, including the thriller movie Welcome the Stranger.
War Pony arrives in UK cinemas on June 9. In the meantime, check out our guide to the rest of the year's most exciting movie release dates.
