Matthew McConaughey: Sea of Trees first clip arrives before Cannes debut

Sea Of Trees—Gus Van Sant’s film about a man dealing with love and loss who travels to Japan—made a splash last year at Cannes when it was announced. As first reported by Deadline, the film will be returning this year to compete in the festival, where it was quickly snatched up by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.

Sea Of Trees stars Matthew McConaughey as Arthur Brennan, a depressed, down-on-his-luck man who travels to Japan’s dense “Suicide Forest” near Mount Fuji with the intention of ending his life. He finds a kindred spirit in Ken Wantabe’s Takumi Nakamura, who helps Arthur through a journey of self-reflection and eventually leads Arthur to reconnect with his love for his wife (Naomi Watts).

“I say another title for this film is ‘You’ve got to go through annihilation to get to salvation’,” McConaughey told EW earlier this year. “It’s one hell of a survival story.”