As New York Film Festival nears its conclusion, moviegoers are bracing themselves for the advent of Hollywood’s annual purple patch – the period in which major studios roll out their big-name dramas and awards-tipped features in anticipation of Oscar season.
One such release entering that race is Allied, the WWII drama hailing from Robert Zemeckis, esteemed director of Back to the Future, Flight and last year’s stomach-churning biopic The Walk. A master of visual effects, a wartime romance stands as something of a creative departure for Zemeckis, which has us all the more intrigued to see how the final feature pans out.
Set during the throes of World War II, the picture takes place largely in Casablanca circa 1942, where Brad Pitt’s Allied intelligence officer Max Vatan is dispatched on a top-secret mission to execute a high-ranking German official. Upon arriving in North Africa, he teams with French Resistance fighter Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) to complete the objective, sparking a passionate romance in the process. But there’s much more at play here, and the all-too-revealing trailer above has subterfuge in spades.
Peaky Blinders scribe Steven Knight penned the script, which should give you some indication of the dynamic between Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard’s lovestruck leads. If not, the trailer above strays pretty far into spoiler territory, so we’d advice against sticking with it all the way to the final frame lest you want to expose Zemeckis’ spy romance film ahead of time.
Who can you trust? No one, it seems. Expect Allied to muscle its way into Oscar conversation when Zemeckis’ WWII opus bows on November 23. Lizzy Caplan, Matthew Goode and Jared Harris are among the cast list.
