John Boyega goes from Star Wars to the streets of L.A. in the Imperial Dreams trailer

John Boyega filmed his new Netflix movie Imperial Dreams long before his star-making turn as reluctant stormtrooper Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But though Malik Vitthal‘s gritty inner city drama won an Audience Award for its world premiere at Sundance in 2014, it’s taken the film a few years to make it onto screens. Now, Netflix has a trailer for the movie, which sees Boyega playing a single father and aspiring writer trying to keep himself and his son out of danger in Los Angeles’ infamous Imperial Courts housing projects.

Shot on location, Dreams looks to be a gut-punch of a film, as Boyega’s Bambi balances responsibilities, social pressures, and the crushing weight of poverty in an attempt to keep himself and his son alive and free. The film debuts on February 3 on Netflix.