Vera Farmiga’s HIGHER GROUND Official Trailer

Based on Carolyn S. Briggs’ memoir “This Dark World: A Memoir of Salvation Found and Lost,” watch the trailer for Sony Pictures Classics’ HIGHER GROUND.

In Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut, HIGHER GROUND expertly depicts the landscape of a tight-knit spiritual community. Spanning the 60s through the 80s, the film is a study of one woman’s internal struggle with the primary love relationships in her life. As a contemplative child, Corrine (Farmiga) longs for stability and a sense of belonging. Her parents’ marriage disintegrates when Corrine is fifteen, so she searches for security in Ethan (Leonard), a talented musician. After a shotgun wedding and a terrifying brush with death, the couple dedicates their lives to God and joins a small hippie church. Corrine and Ethan find strength and joy in this community, though some of the tenets leave Corrine unsettled. The results provoke her to begin asking questions and inspire her to finally claim her own voice.

John Hawkes, Donna Murphy, Bill Irwin, Norbert Leo Butz, Dagmara Dominczyk, and Joshua Leonard round out the cast, along with Farmiga’s younger sister Taissa, who proves herself to be an extraordinary new talent as Young Corinne.

The film will be in theaters August 26, 2011.