Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk trailer prepares for war

Incoming! The first trailer for Christopher Nolan’s World War II thriller Dunkirk has arrived.

Set to the sounds of crashing waves and an increasingly tense ticking, the one-minute video glimpses soldiers silhouetted against gray skies and packed into a landing craft.

Ominous text reads, “At the point of crisis, at the point of annihilation, survival is victory.” At the trailer’s climax, the sound of incoming aircraft grows louder until a boatful of wide-eyed soldiers rush to take cover.

Written and directed by Nolan (The Dark Knight, Interstellar), Dunkirk is based on the desperate 1940 evacuation of Allied soldiers in France. The cast includes Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, and Harry Styles.

The film is scheduled to open July 21, 2017. Watch the trailer above.