This may end up being the best film of the year.

If the buzz is any indication (not to mention writer/director Kenneth Lonergan‘s track record), Manchester by the Sea looks to be as emotionally absorbing as any movie in 2016, and is destined to play a major part in the Oscar race.

With previous indie dramas like You Can Count On Me and Margaret, Lonergan has established himself as a filmmaker of intimate stories boiling with intense (and occasionally devastating) realities, all told with pure unflinching authenticity rather than overplayed melodrama.

Starring Casey Affleck (an actor with a strong track record of his own) and Michelle Williams (arguably the best actress of her generation), Manchester by the Sea – a tale of loss, grief, and family upheaval – opens on November 18, 2016.