It’s a good feeling when one of your most-anticipated films of a given year is a February debut. For me, that’s precisely the case with Cate Shortland‘s Lore, which independent distributor Music Box Films — in a move that extends their promising run of titles that includes Keep the Lights On and Starlet — is set to release in theaters on February 8. With such a brief waiting period, I’m not even sure I’ll bother watching this new official trailer from Apple, but for those still on the fence — or, indeed, entirely unaware of the film in the first place — now might be a good time to start opening your eyes.

We did get a trailer for the film back in July of last year, just after Lore was announced as a selection at the Toronto International Film Festival. Since then, conversation has understandably died down a bit, if only because the heat of the film’s critically-acclaimed festival run has slightly worn off. (It did, however, appear on some Top 10 lists in 2012, including that of the terrific Guy Lodge.) But the momentum is slowly coming back — after getting a striking poster for the film last week, this trailer now pretty much puts a cap on things.

If you’ve yet to see Shortland’s debut film — Somersault, from way back in 2004 — I’d highly recommend seeking it out before Lore hits screens. Though a World War II drama based on a novel by Rachel Seiffert must sound like a far cry away from the material explored in the Abbie Cornish-starring Somersault (which was based on an original script by Shortland), I’ve heard from a few sources that technique and subject matter actually overlap in intriguing ways. With that in mind, take a look at the trailer and synopsis below:

Synopsis:

When her SS officer father and mother, a staunch Nazi believer, are captured by the victorious Allies at the end of World War II, the 14-year-old German girl Lore (striking newcomer Saskia Rosendahl) must lead her four siblings on a harrowing journey across a devastated country. When she meets the charismatic and mysterious young refugee Thomas (Kai Malina, The White Ribbon), Lore soon finds her world shattered by feelings of hatred and desire as she must put her trust in the very person she was always taught to hate in order to survive.

What did you think of the trailer? Are you anticipating Lore as much as I am?