Jennifer Lawrence Plays an Afghanistan War Vet Recovering from a TBI in 'Causeway'

Jennifer Lawrence stars in the upcoming Apple TV+ movie "Causeway," which tells the story of Lynsey, a military engineer who returns home to New Orleans from the Afghanistan War with a debilitating brain injury after an IED explosion. The movie is set to premiere in select theaters and on Apple TV+ on Nov. 4, 2022. 

That paragraph is based on Apple's description of the movie, but we're going to have to trust them on this one because there's nothing in the just-released trailer that suggests military service or an IED explosion.

It's obvious that Lawrence's character is struggling with some sort of trauma and that her brain might be involved. After she gets a job as a pool cleaner, she strikes up a friendship with James Aucoin (Brian Tyree Henry, "Bullet Train," "Atlanta"), another soul struggling to deal with an as-yet-to-be-explained trauma.

Based on the fact that moviegoers have ignored some excellent recent dramas about female military members, maybe Apple is smart to use Lawrence's star power to draw casual fans into the movie before revealing the heart of the story. Movies like "Megan Leavey" with Kate Mara, "Fort Bliss" with Michelle Monaghan and "Camp X-Ray" with Kristen Stewart all deserved bigger audiences than they got upon release.

Lawrence took a two-year break from acting to get married and have a child, so "Causeway" marks her return to dramatic movies after a comic turn in the 2021 Netflix end-of-the-world satire "Don't Look Up." 

"Causeway" is a new title for the completed film, which was produced under the title "Red, White and Water." It's the debut feature for director Lila Neugebauer, who's previously made episodes of the television series "Room 104," "Maid" and "The Sex Lives of College Girls." It's also the first produced script for screenwriters Luke Goebel, Ottessa Moshfegh and Elizabeth Sanders.

The movie also stars Jayne Houdyshell ("Only Murders in the Building"), Samira Wiley ("Orange Is the New Black") and Stephen McKinley Henderson ("Dune").

We'll have more details about "Causeway" as the release date approaches.

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