Matthew McConaughey contemplates death in first image from Sea of Trees

It is amazing to think that just over a year ago, we were overlooking Matthew McConaughey projects as being either utterly forgettable or surprises like THE LINCOLN LAWYER. Then along came MUD, DALLAS BUYERS CLUB, KILLER JOE, BERNIE, and TRUE DETECTIVE to show us what we were missing. Now that his celebrity is resurrected, each new Matthew McConaughey project is met with anticipation.

Aside from INTERSTELLAR, we now have a first look at another upcoming film starring the Best Actor winner: Gus Van Sant‘s SEA OF TREES. Also starring Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts, SEA OF TREES sold internationally at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and looks to be another strong performance from the actor.

The film follows Arthur Brennan (McConaughey) trekking into Aokigahara, known as the Sea of Trees, a mysterious dense forest at the base of Japan’s Mount Fuji where people go to contemplate life and death. Having found the perfect place to die, Arthur encounters Takumi Nakamura (Watanabe), a Japanese man who has also lost his way. The two men begin a journey of reflection and survival, which affirms Arthur’s will to live and reconnects him to his love with his wife (Watts).

Gus Van Sant has been very hit or miss with films in his career but has given us some phenomenal films like MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, GOOD WILL HUNTING, and MILK. SEA OF TREES sounds like it could be a very dark and beautiful film and McConaughey seems to think it will affect audiences in a very unique way. Here is what he told Entertainment Weekly about reactions to the movie.

“Everyone is going to leave the theater and have their own walk and talk through the parking lot to muse about its meanings, what it was about and what it wasn’t, what was real and what was a dream.”

SEA OF TREES currently has no domestic release date, but stay tuned for more. Check out the full first still image below.