Brad Pitt is a smug soldier in first War Machine trailer

He’s hunted Nazis for Quentin Tarantino and tangoed with Marion Cotillard behind enemy lines in the past, and now Brad Pitt is preparing for battle once again in Netflix’s first teaser trailer for David Michôd’s War Machine.

Described as “an absurdist war story for our times,” War Machine, inspired by the nonfiction book The Operators: The Wild & Terrifying Inside Story of America’s War in Afghanistan by late journalist Michael Hastings, charts the tumultuous rise and fall of a charismatic, four-star U.S. general (Pitt) who takes command of NATO forces in Afghanistan. The decorated military man is later taken down by a shocking exposé written by a savvy journalist.

Anthony Michael Hall, Topher Grace, Will Poulter, Lakeith Stanfield, Emory Cohen, John Magaro, RJ Cyler, Alan Ruck, Scoot McNairy, Meg Tilly, and Academy Award-winners Tilda Swinton, and Sir Ben Kingsley join Pitt among the film’s cast.

Michôd, who previously earned worldwide notoriety for directing the Oscar-nominated crime drama Animal Kingdom, which later spawned a TNT television series of the same name, wrote War Machine‘s script, while two-time Oscar-winners Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner (Moonlight, 12 Years a Slave) produced alongside Pitt via their Plan B label.

War Machine hits Netflix streaming on May 26. Check out the film’s first teaser above, and check out a few first look photos below.