The wait for John Hillcoat‘s Lawless has been equally long and frustrating — date changes! title changes! — but the first trailer, I dare say, has me thinking it was worth all the trouble. Familial drama, active machine guns, gorgeous set design, Tom Hardy getting into fights, Gary Oldman and Guy Pearce putting on their villain suits, Jessica Chastain being immaculately pretty — it’s everything you desire in this (or, really, any) kind of movie. Shia LaBeouf might even put in something nice.

Lawless sees Hardy, LaBeouf, and Jason Clarke play the Bondurant brothers, three bootleggers earning their keep in a Prohibition-era Virginia. Pearce and Oldman, as cops and criminals, are looking to stop that through means both legal and nefarious, while Mia Wasikowska and Chastain are romantic foils for the siblings. Thanks to them, Lawless looks like a great time, one that could even help alleviate any of the humdrum feelings of August moviegoing. With any luck, it might even be a great film in its own right.

Watch it below (via Apple):

Synopsis: LAWLESS is the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. In this epic gangster tale, inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave.

Lawless hits on August 31st, following a premiere at Cannes next month.

Are you convinced by this first trailer?