‘Stonewall’ Trailer: Roland Emmerich’s LGBT Rights Drama

Stonewall is definitely a change of pace for Roland Emmerich, a director who primarily deals in mass destruction blockbusters. I guess you could say he’s blowing up inequality in his latest film, which reflects on the Stonewall riots in 1969 and the birth of the LGBT rights movement.

Emmerich’s new film isn’t entirely without action — it took one brick tossed through a window for a riot to erupt and a new march towards civil rights to begin. But you’re unlikely to find insane disasters, CGI, aliens or explosions in Stonewall. It’s a timely project following the recent Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, and one that should hit close to home for many individuals and their loved ones.

Here’s the official synopsis:

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 stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ron Perlman, Joey King, Jonny Beauchamp and Caleb Landry Jones, and hits theaters on September 25.