Watch the First Trailer for Terrence Malick’s WWII Drama A Hidden Life

The first trailer for Terrence Malick’s highly anticipated WWII historical drama A Hidden Life has arrived.

Based on the life story of Austrian conscientious objector Franz Jägerstatter, the trailer begins with Malick’s lush, sprawling landscapes of the Austrian countryside and heartbreaking impressions of Jägerstatter’s early life prior to the German troops moving into the country. The trailer descends into madness as its protagonist finds his country ravaged by Nazis and refuses to serve under the German armed forces—we see August Diehl’s Jägerstatter separated from his wife, threatened by German officers and summoned before a military trial. “I have to stand up to evil,” he concludes in the trailer.

A Hidden Life stars Diehl, Valerie Pachner, Maria Simon, Tobias Moretti, Bruno Ganz, Matthias Schoenaerts, Karin Neuhäuser and Ulrich Matthes, and was penned by Malick himself.

Upon its premiere at Cannes this year, A Hidden Life was hailed as Malick’s best film since the director’s acclaimed 2008 feature The Tree of Life, and the cinematography in the new trailer shows a return to Malick’s well-worn short-lensed, handheld camerawork and affinity for grandiose, imposing depictions of nature.

Fox Searchlight will release A Hidden Life in theaters on Dec. 13.

You can check out the trailer below.