It’s the ultimate game of Survivor. On Wednesday, the official trailer was released for Ron Howard’s upcoming thriller Eden. The film stars Jude Law, Vanessa Kirby,Sydney Sweeney, Ana de Armas, and Daniel Brühl, who are fighting for survival on a remote island, where danger comes not only from nature, but from each other.

Based on a true story, Eden follows a group of people who abandon civilization in search of a new beginning on an uninhabited island. But their dream quickly turns into a nightmare as they face brutal conditions, dwindling resources, and rising tensions. With death and despair closing in, the group must confront both the harsh environment — and the lengths they’ll go to in order to stay alive.

The film set its world premiere at last year’s Toronto Film Festival, hoping for a launchpad to an awards run.

But then things took a bad turn.

It began with a medical emergency during the screening, which resulted in a ticketholder being carried out on a stretcher.

According to The Wrap, “Eden never quite recaptured its momentum after the lengthy stoppage. Add to that the general wariness of distributors to take the plunge on an adult-themed survival thriller — even with that cast and a score by two-time Oscar winner Hans Zimmer — and it was a disheartening outcome. But a good movie is a good movie, and now Eden will get to prove itself before a theatrical audience.”

Despite Howard’s Oscar pedigree — his A Beautiful Mind won Best Director and Best Picture at the 2002 Academy Awards — and Eden‘s stellar cast, the film never found its footing after its Toronto premiere. Critics offered decidedly mixed reviews, with a 57 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and then faced challenges in securing U.S. distribution.

After months of uncertainty, Vertical Entertainment acquired the film in February and announced an August release. The late-summer date, well outside the traditional window for serious contenders, combined with the lukewarm critical reception, has significantly dampened Eden‘s awards prospects.

But Howard appears undaunted. “This story has been a passion project for me for years, rooted in the incredible true events of three wildly different groups of people who chose to leave modern society behind and recreate themselves on an uninhabited island in the Galapagos,” he said in a statement. “The complexity of the characters and the collision of personalities that resulted are what drew me in, and I hope audiences connect with the profound themes of survival and human nature. It’s a story that feels so relevant today, and I’m excited for audiences to experience it on the big screen.”

Set in the 1930s, the film centers on a group of Europeans who relocate to the uninhabited Galápagos island of Floreana. Law portrays German doctor Friedrich Ritter, who is living there in isolation with his wife (Kirby) before others begin to arrive. Law gives an incredible raw performance as the eccentric doctor and drew attention for his nude scenes. Speaking during a Q&A at the Toronto Film Festival, the actor said, “For me, the challenge was trying to find movement in his rigidity. He didn’t want to be moved or bent. That was the challenge for me — and the nudity.”

For Sweeney, who plays a mother on the island, she was shocked when she learned the film was based on a true story.

“You read all these crazy characters, there’s no way that they all are real, and they all come together and they have all these experiences,” Sweeney said during the Toronto Film Festival. “But then I went and I read Dora [Strauch]’s book, and I read Margret [Wittmer]’s book, and I found all the newspaper clippings of all their stories and it’s the most wild account of people just put together.”

Eden hits theaters Aug. 22.

Templeton Crocker wrote about Ritter and Strauch in his unpublished manuscript Zaca Sails South, A Non-Scientific Diary after meeting them on Charles Island (Floreana) in 1932. He was the third wealthy businessman on a Galapagaos scientific expedition to visit the couple that year after Allan Hancock sailed there in his modified yacht Velero III and Vincent Astor brought the bold survivalists on board his Nourmahal. Their visits and three lengthy articles written by Nietzsche promoter Dr. Ritter for the Atlantic Monthly put the couple on the front pages of nearly every newspaper in Western Civilization.