John Boyega and Michael K. Williams face off in trailer for hostage drama Breaking

How’s this for a dose of sudden intensity added to your evening: The new trailer for John Boyega’s hostage drama Breaking, in which he plays a former Marine who holds a bank hostage in order to draw attention to his treatment by Veteran Affairs. The energy of the trailer, already potent, is only magnified when it’s shown that the primary hostage negotiator is being played by the late Michael K. Williams, in one of his final film roles.

Breaking was directed by Abi Damaris Corbin, who also co-wrote the film with Kwame Kwei-Armah, based on journalism by Aaron Gell. (We’ll omit the title of the article Gell wrote that served as the inspiration for the film, because it gives away the plot, but if you’re interested in the story, go ahead and search out the name of Boyega’s character, Lance Corporal Brian Easley.)

Boyega stars as the hostage taker, who lets most of his hostages go, but retains control of bank employees Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva. Williams, meanwhile, stars as the cop tasked with de-escalating the situation, even as police pressure mounts (and Boyega’s character continues to threaten to use the bomb he says he’s carrying). Connie Britton co-stars, along with Robb Deringer, Olivia Washington, and Jeffrey Donovan.

Breaking, originally titled 892, was developed with Jonathan Majors in the central role; he was eventually forced to depart the film due to scheduling conflicts with his upcoming Marvel movie, Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania. Breaking had its debut at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, drawing generally strong reviews for both its acting and its direction. Critics were especially quick to heap praise on both Boyega and Williams, working hard to flesh out characters who are sometimes only lightly sketched by the script.

Breaking arrives in theaters on August 26.