The Underground Railroad Trailer Released by Amazon

Amazon Prime has released a trailer for The Underground Railroad, the upcoming limited series from Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barry Jenkins. The series, which is based on Colton Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name will debut on Friday, May 14th. The series follows Cora (Thuso Mbedu), an enslaved Black woman who escapes from a plantation in Georgia and discovers that the escape network she's heard of is a literal underground railroad complete with conductors and engineers. You can check out the stunning trailer for yourself below.

Jenkins himself took to social media earlier this week to share the trailer, writing that "the work of the last four years of my life... is yours."

Cora's journey to freedom won't be easy, however. She's pursued by Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), a brutal bounty hunter tasked with bringing Cora back by any means necessary and for Ridgeway, the task is personal: he also pursued Cora's mother, Mabel (Sheila Atim). The Underground Railroad also stars William Jackson Harper (The Good Place), Lily Rabe (American Horror Story), Aaron Pierre (Krypton) Peter De Jersey (Broadchurch), Will Poulter (Midsommar), and Damon Herriman (Justified).

Jenkins, who serves as showrunner and director for all ten episodes of the limited series, is perhaps best known for his feature filmmaking. Jenkins directed and co-wrote 2016's Moonlight, winning the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar (along with Tarell Alvin McCraney) for the film. He also wrote and directed 2018's If Beal Street Could Talk, based on James Baldwin's novel of the same name. Jenkins also directed an episode of Dear White People.

You can check out the official synopsis for the series below.

"The Underground Railroad chronicles Cora Randall's (newcomer Thuso Mbedu) desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. After escaping a Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil.

Over the course of her journey, Cora is pursued by Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), a bounty hunter who is fixated on bringing her back to the plantation she escaped; especially since her mother Mabel is the only one he has never caught.

As she travels from state to state, Cora contends with the legacy of the mother that left her behind and her own struggles to realize a life she never thought was possible.

The Underground Railroad stars Thuso Mbedu, Chase W. Dillon and Joel Edgerton. Aaron Pierre, William Jackson Harper, Sheila Atim, Amber Gray, Peter De Jersey, Chukwudi Iwuji, Damon Herriman, Lily Rabe, Irone Singleton, Mychal-Bella Bowman, Marcus "MJ" Gladney, Jr., Will Poulter and Peter Mullan round out the cast."

The Underground Railroad limited series debuts on Amazon Prime on Friday, May 14th.