Watch Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman in First Harriet Biopic Trailer

Cynthia Erivo steps into the intrepid boots of abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the first trailer for Focus Features’s forthcoming biopic Harriet.

The first trailer for the Kasi Lemmons-directed and -co-written project augurs a dark and raw take on Tubman’s escape from slavery and journey towards helping hundreds of other slaves reach freedom.

The trailer begins with Tubman’s escape to Philadelphia, acquaints us with Erivo’s co-stars Leslie Odom Jr. and Janelle Monáe, both of whom portray freed slaves helping Tubman become a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and finds the hero telling a room full of white Southerners that she will “give every last drop of blood in my veins until this monster called slavery is dead.”

Jennifer Nettles, Clarke Peters and Boy Erased’s Joe Alwyn round out the rest of the cast.

Harriet will be released theatrically on Nov. 1. You can check out the first trailer and official poster below.

I’m so excited, humbled, inspired and deeply grateful to be on this journey, with such exceptionally talented people. More to come! https://t.co/0Dl7UWaJ1Z

— Kasi Lemmons (@kasi_lemmons) September 14, 2018