MNN - Mother Nature Network

Director Zal Batmanglij's "The East" not only had its Sundance Film Festival debut this week but also released a first trailer for the gritty eco-drama. 

 

Starring Ellen Page ("Inception) and Alexander Skarsgard ("True Blood"), the film tells the story of an anarchist group that seek justice for corporate environmental wrongs — and the private intelligence agent that infiltrates their ranks. So far, the film appears to be catching many by surprise as one of the breakaway hits of Sundance. 

 

"It's a rock-solid techno-thriller that's extremely polished and fairly lavish in scope," writes Chris Bumbray in a review. "I guess I had pigeonholed Batmanglij as a one kind of filmmaker, but I have to admit this is the most effective and polished jump into the mainstream since Christopher Nolan's early films. Am I saying Batmanglij's the next Nolan? That might be premature- but 'The East' offers compelling evidence."

 

Over on The Playlist, reviewer Cory Everett took issue with the film's multiple plot twists at the end, but nonetheless had an overall positive viewing. "'The East' is definitely a movie that's going to divide people but it'll be a conversation worth having," he writes. 

 

"The East" will hit theaters sometime later this year. Check out the trailer below.