I remember last year around this time when Cannes Film Festival premiered the intense first footage from one of my most-anticipated titles, Nicolas Winding Refn‘s Drive. They are at it again this year, with our first look at Andrew Dominik‘s follow-up to The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, the ensemble crime drama Killing Them Softly.

Our first clip paints a much different picture than his moody western, with this semi-funny scene of  Sam Shepard and Slaine (the rapper who appeared in Ben Affleck‘s Gone Baby Gone and The Town) giving a beatdown to Ray Liotta, without seeing much of the action in the frame. It’s exciting that Dominik isn’t repeating himself and this little bit only gets me more interested at what the rest of the film will be like. Check it out below.

Based on George V. Higgins‘ novel, which has dark comedy elements and violence, the crime drama follows  ”a professional enforcer who investigates a heist that went down during a mob-protected poker game.” The cast also includes Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Garret Dillahunt, Max Casella, Bella Heathcote, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn and Vincent Curatola.  

Killing Them Softly premieres at Cannes, which kicks off on May 16th.

What do you think of the first clip?

[Cannes via The Playlist]