We don't envy the work Robert Pattinson has to do to shed the vampiric shadow the 'Twilight' franchise cast on his career, but the actor has done a remarkable job, so far. He's being smart and working with visionary directors like David Cronenberg on 'Cosmopolis' and David Michod (who directed the fantastic 2010 movie 'Animal Kingdom') on the upcoming film, 'The Rover.'

Today, we have our first look at 'The Rover' trailer, which co-stars Guy Pearce ('Iron Man 3') and looks like an impressive, intense thriller.

It's hard to glean much from this trailer about the plot of the film, which sets more of a mood piece than anything else, but 'The Rover' is set 10 years in the future, following the collapse of society. When a gang of dangerous criminals steal his last remaining possession, his car, a man (Pearce) sets out for revenge with an injured member of the gang (Pattinson) by his side. (Michod actually wrote the story for the film with actor Joel Edgerton, who he worked with on 'Animal Kingdom'.)

The vastly underrated 'Animal Kingdom' proved that director Michod was a creative force to follow and that alone would have us interested in 'The Rover.' But, there's something about the intensity of this trailer that gives, what amounts to a pretty simple premise, a lot of weight. In fact, the film has been compared to 'Mad Max' (Australian outback, dystopian future, cars, gangs, etc.), but Michod says to expect something even more menacing than that film. More menacing than 'Mad Max'? OK, we're sold.

'The Rover' is set for release later this year and we're starting to get excited.

More From ScreenCrush