The upcoming HBO series The Last of Us has landed its first official teaser trailer, and there’s plenty to unpack in the thrilling 90-second preview.
Based on the 2013 PlayStation video game of the same name, the series follows a smuggler named Joel Miller (Pedro Pascal), who is tasked to safely escort a 14-year-old girl named Ellie Williams (Bella Ramsey) out of a quarantined area filled with humans infected by a mutating virus.
Accompanied by Hank Williams’ 1955 country song “Alone and Forsaken,” the teaser trailer begins with Joel walking the streets of a city that looks like it’s inside a war zone. A sign on one of the buildings lets everyone know the curfew hours. Another lists the symptoms that one might be experiencing if they have been infected by the virus. “Coughing, slurred speech, muscle spasms, mood change…safety begins with you,” it reads.
The phrase, “When you’re lost in the darkness,” is seen painted across a wall inside a room where Ellie is chained up. She looks out the window at the decaying world and waits for someone to save her. Other imagery is revealed throughout the trailer, including shots of the skeletal remains of adults and children in a field and a bird’s eye view of Joel and Ellie walking across a snow-covered bridge.
There is also a scene where Joel and Ellie are in a dark room where they see one of the creatures known as Clickers and can hear them making their uniquely creepy sounds. Joel puts his finger to his lips to signal Ellie to stay quiet.
“This is your chance, our best shot,” someone tells Joel in a voice-over. “You keep her alive, and you set everything right.”
We’ll see if Joel and Ellie can survive the apocalypse when The Last of Us premieres in 2023.