Orion Pictures and Amazon MGM Studios have released the first official trailer for Preparation for the Next Life, marking the narrative feature debut of acclaimed documentary filmmaker Bing Liu (Minding the Gap). Adapted from Atticus Lish’s award-winning novel, the film is a deeply intimate immigrant love story set in the shadows of post-war America and urban survival.
The story follows an Uyghur woman (played by Sebiye Behtiyar), raised by a military father and now navigating the harsh realities of life in New York City’s Chinatown, where she works long hours in the underground kitchen economy. Her world changes when she meets Skinner (Fred Hechinger), a disillusioned American soldier fresh from three grueling tours in the Middle East. Their unexpected bond blossoms into a love that offers both escape and a fragile hope—each sees in the other a chance at life beyond pain, war, and isolation.
Penned by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok, the screenplay stays close to Lish’s raw and poetic source material, capturing the collision of cultures, trauma, and desire in the immigrant experience. Bing Liu brings his signature vérité sensibility to the film, blending realism and emotional urgency in a way that echoes his documentary roots.
Preparation for the Next Life is slated for a September 5th, 2025 release. With its timely themes and gritty emotional undercurrent, the film promises to be a haunting and humanizing story of survival, love, and the American dream reimagined.
Check Out The Trailer:-