Following his 2019 directorial debut The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, Chiwetel Ejiofor returned behind the camera five years later for Rob Peace, adapting Jeff Hobbs’ biography of a slightly longer and perhaps revealing title, The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. Starring Jay Will, Mary J. Blige, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Michael Kelly, Mare Winningham, and Camila Cabello, the drama premiered at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and will now arrive in theaters beginning August 16.
Here’s the synopsis: “Directed, adapted by, and starring Academy Award® nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 YEARS A SLAVE), ROB PEACE follows the true story of a brilliant young man (Jay Will) torn between his father’s shadowed past and his own promising future. Raised by his devoted mother (Academy Award® nominee Mary J. Blige, MUDBOUND), Rob risks everything he has worked for to free his imprisoned father (Ejiofor). Also starring Camila Cabello and based on the New York Times bestseller by Jeff Hobbs.”
See the trailer below.