Most red-blooded Americans know the story of the JFK assassination, but few know what happened in the dramatic hours immediately after his shooting, as doctors struggled to save his life and the Secret Service attempted to find the man responsible. Though we’ve already seen a few stills, the full trailer for Peter Landesman’s Parkland puts together a more cohesive look at a day that changed the United States.
Through interwoven stories, Parkland focuses on the assassination through the eyes of people helping the president, instead of more prominent figures like the Kennedys themselves. There’s the rookie doctor (Zac Efron) tasked with attempting to save his life and the head nurse (Marcia Gay Harden) who looks pretty resigned to the fact that he won’t be able to do it. Paul Giamatti is Abraham Zapruder, the cameraman with the only footage of the shooting, while Billy Bob Thornton plays a Secret Service agent who is out for the head of whomever did this. Hint: It’s Lee Harvey Oswald (Jeremy Strong).
It might be odd to call an assassination drama refreshing, but it’s a welcome change of pace to see a historical drama not tell the same story we’ve seen time and again. Check out the trailer for yourself:
Parkland is in theaters September 20th after premiering at TIFF.
