First Clip from 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' with Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck

Sundance proved to be the great coming out party for David Lowery, a filmmaker who has been toiling around in the industry for awhile without really breaking through. Along with being entrusted with the editing on Shane Carruth's Upstream Color, Lowery saw his name mentioned in the same breath as Terrence Malick for his latest film, Ain't Them Bodies Saints. A special screening of it will take place during Cannes this week, and so the first clip has arrived to help pump up a little excitement for it.

Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara are Patrick and Ruth, a Bonnie & Clyde criminal pair who are separated when he's captured and imprisoned. Years later, Patrick escapes with plans to reunite with her and the daughter he's never met, but finds that she's already begun the process of moving on. The scene is taken from very early on, and involves a tense conversation that shows just how much the two lovers rely on one another. 

It was certainly a favorite of mine, describing it as having "a dark, storybook mood set firmly in the mode of Terrence Malick's Badlands".  As terrific as the two leads are, the supporting turns by Ben Foster and Nate Parker may be even better. Ain't Them Bodies Saints opens on August 16th.