Two of Hollywood’s most powerful stars, Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry, have joined forces on Apple TV+’s Causeway.
Lawrence stars in the film as Lynsey, a United States soldier who suffered a traumatic brain injury during her tour in Afghanistan, which forces her to return home to New Orleans. The A24 film follows her as she struggles to return to her daily life with her mother Gloria (Linda Emond) as she waits to be redeployed and meets a car mechanic named James, played by Henry.
In the exclusive clip above, the pair meet at an auto repair shop after the truck Lynsey is driving breaks down. James tells Lynsey it will cost more than $300 to repair it, and she says she’s unsure if she wants to fix it because it's not her truck. He asks for her phone number to give her an estimate and she tells him, “I don’t know my number,” which is likely due to her injury.
The film’s trailer shows that their interaction leads to friendship between them which becomes the heart of the film. As Lynsey attempts to adjust to being home again while dealing with her health condition, she leans on James, who is dealing with his own trauma.
Critics have already been praising Lawrence and Henry’s performances. This is perhaps Lawrence’s most intimate and nuanced performance since her Oscar-winning role in Silver Lining’s Playbook. The actress recently opened up to the New York Times about how her representatives led her away from taking on smaller films like Causeway in the past, after her stints starring in the Hunger Games andX-Men films. “I found out that a lot of filmmakers that I really loved and admired had scripts that weren’t even reaching me,” she told the newspaper.
This is Lawrence’s return to the dramas that made her a Hollywood movie star at just 19 years old when she starred in Winter’s Bone. After starring in this year’s Bullet Train and the final season of Atlanta, Causeway is also proof that Henry is currently one of the most skilled actors in the game. The film, directed by Lila Neugebauer, had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival in September and had a limited theatrical release in October.
Watch the exclusive clip Causeway clip above and watch the film when it hits Apple TV+ on Nov. 4.
