One of the most exciting small-screen projects on the way is undoubtedly HBO’s The Leftovers, a post-apocalyptic drama from Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof. Centering on the humans left on Earth after two percent of the population suddenly disappears (in an event that looks like the Rapture), The Leftovers has been shrouded in mystery since it was announced, but now we’ve got our first real look at the series with a haunting first trailer.
In the preview, which you can check out below, we get a sense of the deceptively large canvas on which writer Tom Perrotta (who wrote the 2011 novel from which The Leftovers is adapted) is working. Though the show, set to run for ten episodes, is set primarily in the small town of Mapleton, it deals with a global catastrophe and how the fallout from it affects a huge, diverse array of individuals. Among the themes that The Leftovers appears set to grapple with are life, death, faith, good, evil and destiny; it certainly won’t be anyone’s Sunday night pick-me-up.
Though some people have evidently fallen into despair following the disappearance of their loved ones (which took place three years before The Leftovers opens), others have joined a sinister cult. The main characters, including Mapleton’s chief of police (Justin Theroux) and one of the cult members (Amy Brenneman), seem quite interesting, and with the limited episode order for The Leftovers, it looks like the show certainly won’t waste its time delving into high-stakes drama, which is a very good thing.
The premium channel has attracted a stellar cast for the show, which includes Christopher Eccleston, Carrie Coon, Chris Zylka, Ann Dowd, Liv Tyler, Michael Gaston, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Emily Meade, Amanda Warren and Margaret Qually.
The Leftovers arrives June 29th at 10 p.m. on HBO. Check out the trailer below, and let us know what you think (that quietly unnerving song is James Blake’s “Retrograde,” by the way).
