Curzon Film has released the first official trailer for ‘I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning,’ the urgent, politically charged drama from acclaimed filmmaker Clio Barnard.

Set in Birmingham, the film follows five childhood friends as they navigate the realities of adulthood, fractured relationships and the growing divide between the lives they imagined and the futures they have found themselves living.

Patrick (Anthony Boyle) and Shiv (Lola Petticrew) remain deeply in love, but their relationship is shaken when a long-buried secret resurfaces. Meanwhile, charismatic Oli (Jay Lycurgo), once the life and soul of the group, is partying too hard and struggling to keep himself together.

Conor (Daryl McCormack) has a baby on the way and a business plan that could change everything, while Rian (Joe Cole) is the only one to have escaped the estate, moving to London and making money. Despite his apparent success, Rian finds himself lonely and disconnected, longing for the sense of home and community he left behind.

Having grown up together, played together and skipped school together, the five friends once shared countless dreams about what their lives would become. Now in their thirties, they are discovering that adulthood has not delivered quite what they were promised.

The film brings together an exciting British and Irish ensemble, with Cole known for ‘Gangs of London,’ Boyle for ‘House of Guinness,’ Lycurgo for ‘Steve,’ McCormack for ‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ and Petticrew for ‘Say Nothing.’

Also in trailers – ‘Being Heumann’ trailer: Ruth Madeley& Mark Ruffalo star in disability rights drama

‘I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning’ arrives in UK and Irish cinemas on December 4, 2026.