The Big Picture

• A mother-daughter duo to fight for survival against strangers desperate for oxygen in Breathe.
• The movie stars Jennifer Hudson and Quvenzhané Wallis as mother and daughter pair Maya and Zora.
• Director Stefon Bristol's new film is a personal story about trust and survival, aiming to scare audiences into realizing the fragility of our planet.

In a stark future where Earth's air is no longer safe, the few remaining survivors would be left to scrap and claw for every last store of oxygen. That's the terrifying reality imagined by Stefon Bristol's upcoming action thriller Breathe, which stars Jennifer Hudson and Quvenzhané Wallis as a mother and daughter who are limited to living underground when the surface becomes uninhabitable. A new trailer shared today shows their desperate fight for survival when confronted by strangers seeking shelter whose intentions may not be as benevolent as they initially seem.

The events of Breathe are set in motion after Maya's (Hudson) husband and genius inventor Darius (Common) leaves their bunker for a longer outing, only to presumably run out of oxygen and die on the surface. Alone and forced to make excursions themselves, Maya and her daughter Zora (Wallis) try to get by, but danger quickly finds them when they run into two survivors during one trip. One of them, Tess (Milla Jovovich), pleads for the pair to let her into their bunker, so she can examine and replicate Darius's oxygen generator. Her plan could help save the planet, but she shows her true colors after shutting off their power and preparing to let them suffocate. While her intentions are unknown, it's clear she and her fellow survivors will go to any lengths to seize the oxygen they need, forcing Maya and Zora into a tense fight for their lives.

Breathe becomes a gritty, intense actioner in the second half of its trailer. As Maya and Zora leave the safety of their bunker behind, they confront the survivors head-on in the harsh, brightly-colored post-apocalyptic wasteland where one well-placed shot or ambush could leave them without air. To ensure they can live peacefully, they'll have to confront the group of survivors where they live. In addition to Jovovich, the mother and daughter will come into contact with Sam Worthington and Raúl Castillo, among others, during their excursion.

'Breathe' Is a Personal Story for Bristol

A protégé of the great Spike Lee, Bristol has earned his fair share of flowers, taking home a Film Independent Spirit Award for his previous film See You Yesterday. He recently told People Magazine, though, that his latest film is a "labor of love" that he's incredibly eager for audiences to see in part because of how relatable it is. "It’s a story about a mother and daughter who are at odds, fighting to survive," he said. “They have to learn to trust each other, because one small mistake will mean agonizing death. What family can’t relate to that?" Beyond that, he's noted in previous statements how the goal is to show audiences how close our planet is to being unlivable for future generations. With the trailer, he reiterated that message, adding that it's "a personal story. The more personal, the more universal. We want to scare the audience to realize that the Earth can end tomorrow."

Breathe arrives in theaters and on-demand on April 26 in the U.S. Check out the trailer below: