It’s an interesting premise – a TV show set after The Rapture, created by Damon Lindelof (World War Z, Star Trek Into Darkness, Lost) and Tom Perrotta (Little Children) – but these kinds of projects fail more often than they succeed, because they lack the necessary tone. If the latest teaser trailer for The Leftovers is anything to go by, however, that won’t be the case with this latest endeavour from HBO.
Starring Justin Theroux (Wanderlust), Amy Brenneman (Private Practice), Carrie Coon (Intelligence), Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World) and Liv Tyler (Robot And Frank), The Leftovers is a brand new drama that focuses on the small American town of Mapleton after a large-scale disappearance. The trailer sets a mournful scene, as residents of this suburban community struggle to deal with the vanishing of over 100 people.
Having difficulty understanding the sudden and unexplained loss, we see evidence of a town uniting in support of one another. It’s strangely comforting, because we know this scene – having seen it countless times on the news, every time something terrible happens. The low voiceover of Kevin Garvey (Theroux) serves only to deepen that comfort – a softly reassuring, yet authoritative tone, lilting over images of people experiencing deep and profound uncertainty.
Then, just like that – as two desperate souls appear to leap from a roof – the teaser trailer switches to something far darker and more sinister. Without a further word, we are shaken from our comfort zone and subtly reminded – if the good, the righteous and the faithful are taken up, what is Leftover?
HBO’s The Leftovers premieres on June 15th, 2014 at 10pm, with its pilot directed by acclaimed film director, Peter Berg.