Trailer: Jennifer Lawrence returns to her indie roots with PTSD drama ‘Causeway’ for Apple and A24

In Causeway, the new drama directed by Lila Neugebauer (Broadway’s The Waverly Gallery, Maid, The Last Thing He Told Me), Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) returns to her indie roots playing Lynsey, a military engineer who has returned to the States from Afghanistan with a debilitating brain injury after an IED explosion.

It’s a painful and slow recovery as Lynsey relearns to walk and re-trains her memory, aided by a chatty but tender caretaker (Jayne Houdyshell). But when she returns home to New Orleans she has to face memories even more aching and formative than those she had in service: a reckoning with her childhood. 

‘Causeway’ review: Jennifer Lawrence and Brian Tyree Henry shine in Lila Neugebauer’s thoughtful examination of post-war trauma

Staying with her mother (Linda Emond), with whom she shares a tense relationship, all Lynsey wants to do is return to her work as an engineer. Her doctor (Stephen McKinley Henderson) is wary, and so in the meantime, she gets a job cleaning pools. When her truck breaks down she meets James Aucoin (Brian Tyree Henry), who works at the auto repair shop and offers her a ride home. Slowly they start to rely on each other for company and solace. James, it turns out, is also suppressing his own past trauma.  

Causeway had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival where it received strong reviews and currently sits at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film, written by Ottessa Moshfegh, Luke Goebel and Elizabeth Sanders, and produced by Justine Ciarrocchi, is Neugebauer’s feature film directorial debut.

An A24/Apple Original Films co-production, Causeway will be in select theaters and globally on Apple TV+ on November 4.