Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn Act Each Other Into Next Week in New ‘Una’ Trailer

It’s downright mystifying that Una, Australian theatre veteran Benedict Andrews’ first foray into screen directing, hasn’t found an American distributor as of yet. It’s got two major stars in Rooney Mara and Ben Mendelsohn — and with Riz Ahmed also appearing as a supporting player, they could even work the “Rogue One reunion” angle! — the reviews out of its screenings at the film festivals in Telluride and Toronto were uniformly strong, and it also happens to be excellent. (I was one of the critics praising the film as a superb actors’ showcase back at Toronto.) While there’s no U.S. release date on the horizon, it’s only a matter of time until some clever distributor makes a move, and for now, we’ve got a new trailer.

The trailer skillfully obscures the central premise of the film, and we’ll pay you the same courtesy; it’s best experienced cold. Suffice it to say that Rooney Mara’s Una and Ben Mendelsohn’s Pete (or so he says) have a dark past, one that the trailer and film communicate through extensive flashback sequences intercut with one harrowing day at the mill where Pete works. They’re on a collision course with a forbidden secret they’ve both buried for years, one that radically changed both of their lives when discovered. There are heated arguments, dramatic knocking-offs of things from tables in one sweeping motion, a painfully awkward champagne toast, and wall-to-wall good acting.

The new trailer advertises the film’s upcoming run in Singapore, but curious Americans will have to stand by for word of a domestic screening. Write your local Congressperson: Una must be seen.