‘Christine’ Trailer: Rebecca Hall Is Ready to Sensationalize the News

That headline is slightly misleading: Most people aren’t familiar with the name Christine Chubbuck, the subject of the new film from Afterschool and Simon Killer director Antonio Campos. But to her former co-workers, certain morbid corners of the internet, and a handful of cinema fans, her name is synonymous with one of the most tragic and harrowing events in television history. That event is teased to a chilling degree in the first trailer for Christine, which stars an absolutely stunning Rebecca Hall in the title role.

Hall is joined by Michael C. Hall (no relation), Tracy Letts and Timothy Simons in Campos’ latest, which follows the life of the local news reporter from Florida whose name was virtually forgotten despite her infamous efforts to the contrary. For those unfamiliar with Chubbuck’s life, she was the subject of two films at Sundance this year: Christine, and Kate Plays Christine, the latter of which is a meta-fictional documentary (of sorts) that follows actress Kate Lyn Sheil as she prepares to play Chubbuck in another film.

There’s no tiptoeing around what happened to Chubbuck — or, should I say, what she did to herself, which was rumored to have partially inspired Sidney Lumet’s classic 1976 film Network. The trailer for Campos’ film walks a delicate balance in foreshadowing the horrific incident to come without exploiting it, or her. Many critics appeared to be underwhelmed by Christine at Sundance, but it’s remained one of my most anticipated films of 2016, largely due to the talent involved and its fascinating, complex and elusive subject.

Rebecca Hall stars in director Antonio Campos’ third feature film, CHRISTINE, the story of a woman who finds herself caught in the crosshairs of a spiraling personal life and career crisis. Christine, always the smartest person in the room at her local Sarasota, Florida news station, feels like she is destined for bigger things and is relentless in her pursuit of an on-air position in a larger market. As an aspiring newswoman with an eye for nuance and an interest in social justice, she finds herself constantly butting heads with her boss (Tracy Letts), who pushes for juicier stories that will drive up ratings. Plagued by self-doubt and a tumultuous home life, Christine’s diminishing hope begins to rise when an on-air co-worker (Michael C. Hall) initiates a friendship which ultimately becomes yet another unrequited love. Disillusioned as her world continues to close in on her, Christine takes a dark and surprising turn.

Christine hits theaters on October 14.