Mr. Church trailer: Eddie Murphy, Britt Robertson star in new drama

You’ve never seen Eddie Murphy quite like this before. The comedic actor is buckling down for a serious turn in the new film Mr. Church, and EW has an exclusive first look at the emotional drama’s new trailer.

Murphy’s first major role since he toplined the 2012 comedy A Thousand Words, Mr. Church follows a talented personal cook (Murphy) who forms a lasting bond with a dying woman’s (Natascha McElhone) family in 1970s Los Angeles, after they enlist his culinary services for six months. That half-year contract leads to 15 years of genuine connection, as Mr. Church’s life intertwines with his former employer’s daughter, Charlotte (Britt Robertson), in unexpected ways.

In addition to McElhone, Robertson, and Murphy, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in the 2006 film Dreamgirls, the film also stars Lucy Fry and Xavier Samuel in supporting roles. Mr. Church was directed by two-time Oscar nominee Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies), who directs here his first major feature since taking helming the Jane Fonda comedy Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding in 2011.

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Television scribe (and WGA Award-nominee) Susan McMartin, who has story credits on 11 episodes of CBS’ Mom and 10 episodes of the sitcom Two and a Half Men, wrote Mr. Church‘s screenplay.

After premiering the picture at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival in April, Cinelou has set Mr. Church for a Sept. 16 release. Watch the film’s first full trailer in the video above and see the new poster below.