Emmett Till’s Mother Seeks Justice for Her Son in Biopic ‘Till’ Trailer

On the anniversary of what would have been Emmett Till’s 81st birthday on July 25, the trailer of the film tracing the ripple effects of his death, Till, has arrived. The biopic — based on the true story of the aftermath of Till’s brutal lynching in 1955 — follows his mother Mamie Till Mobley (portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler) as she goes on a journey to get justice for the murder of her 14-year-old son.

The trailer follows a timeline of events from Emmett Till (played by Jalyn Hall) heading off on vacation to visit family in Mississippi to his death and Mamie Till Mobley’s fight for justice and work in the civil rights movement. The emotional trailer shows both blissful moments of Till’s life before leaving on his trip and chilling scenes of his mother insisting on an open casket funeral after his gory murder.

The movie also stars Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Faison, Jayme Lawson, Tosin Cole, Kevin Carroll, Sean Patrick Thomas, John Douglas Thompson, Roger Guenveur Smith, and Haley Bennett.

Directed by Clemency’s Chinonye Chukwu, Till makes its world premiere during the opening weekend of the 60th New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center, which runs Sept. 30 through Oct. 16. It hits select theaters on Oct. 14 before a nationwide release beginning on Oct. 28.