Kin trailer: James Franco plays a vengeful crime lord in this new sci-fi crime thriller

Afters its screening during the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, the trailer for the sci-fi crime thriller Kin was released on Thursday.

The film, starring Jack Reynor, Zoë Kravitz and James Franco, is the directorial debut of brothers Jonathan and Josh Baker. Daniel Casey has written the screenplay based on the brothers’ own short film Bag Man, which debuted at SXSW in 2015.

Set in a dystopian future, Kin tells the story of a young adopted teenager named Eli (Myles Truitt), who discovers a mysterious, powerful weapon that looks in all likelihood like it didn’t come from this world. When he tries to use it to save his ex-con older brother who owes a debt to a vengeful crime lord (Franco), they are forced to go on the lam along with their father and a stranger (Kravitz) who joins their cause. With criminals and a group of “otherworldly soliders” chasing after them, the only thing they have left to protect themselves with is the mysterious weapon.

The trailer for this uber-cool genre mashup sure leaves you curiously asking plenty of questions, including the weapon’s origins, what Eli’s older brother is hiding from him about his past, etc.

The film hopes to emphasise the importance of family — and how it is easier to endure hardships when you’re with your loved ones — as is clear in its tagline, “No bond is stronger than family,”

'Moonlight' meets 'District 9' you say? Okay, I'd see that.

First official poster for 'KIN' our debut feature film. In cinemas August 31st 2018. SOME THINGS AREN'T MEANT TO BE FOUND. @KIN #KINmovie pic.twitter.com/qkhT0uF9LX

— Jonathan & Josh Baker (@RedBikeBlueBike) April 26, 2018

Kin also stars Carrie Coon and Dennis Quaid. It is produced by Shawn Levy, who has been an executive producer on the first two seasons of Netflix’s Stranger Things.

The movie is scheduled to release in theatres on 31 August.

Watch the trailer below: