The following trailer contains some nudity and adult language.
As promised, HBO has released the first full trailer for Tom Perrotta and Damon Lindelof's new series The Leftovers ahead of tonight's episode of Game of Thrones. The two minute and forty second spot begins with a chilling scene, as a mother's crying baby disappears in an instant from its car seat. A glimpse of the chaos around her indicates that the infant isn't the only person to vanish into thin air. And this sets the scene for HBO's new drama, The Leftovers.
From what's revealed in the trailer, about 2% of the world's population has disappeared during this event, and the story is set three years later as humanity continues to deal with the situation. While some seem ready to move forward, others aren't so willing or able. Justin Theroux's character, Kevin Garvey, appears caught in the middle of it a chief of police and father who's trying to keep order. We also get a glimpse of Liv Tyler, who lashes out at one of the cult people all dressed in white. Those who've read Tom Perrotta's book know that the these people are The Guilty Remnant, who make it their business to follow people around and stare them down. And it also looks like their behavior includes telling them to stop wasting their breath...
It's worth noting the potential relevance of that statement, considering the Guilty Remnant people are known for their vow of silence and chain-smoking behavior.
We also get some chilling glimpses of just how bad the situation is in the aftermath of the Rapture. That includes the sight of two people leaping off a building hand-in-hand...
Kids being kids... if kids play weird wheel-of-fortune spin-the-bottle-type games that involve choking...
And we also get a peek at what looks like a body disposal...
The tone of the book is dark with a side of hopeless, and that seems to be resonating a bit in this trailer. With no explanation as to why certain people just up and disappeared, and why everyone else was left behind, reactions to the ordeal vary from one person to the next, which makes the story perfect for a TV series as there are plenty of directions for this story to go. The show is based on a lone book, as opposed to a series of novels, so I'm going to assume the show aims to veer in its own direction, using Perrotta's novel as a base on which to build its own evolving story. There's certainly potential for a great series based on this story, albeit a dark one.
The Leftovers was originally supposed to premiere on June 15, however HBO recently pushed the premiere off to June 29. Check out the previously released teaser here.
