Rose Byrne and Whoopi Goldberg co-star in the Tony Goldwyn-directed film that hits theaters in May after premiering at TIFF.

‘Ezra’ Courtesy of TIFF

Bobby Cannavale, Robert De Niro and Rose Byrne lead a starry ensemble drama focused on caring for a neurodivergent child in the trailer for Ezra.

Director Tony Goldwyn‘s family-focused feature is set to hit theaters May 31 from Bleecker Street after debuting at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival. Vera Farmiga, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson and Goldwyn round out the film’s cast.

Ezra follows Max, a stand-up comic who lives with his father (De Niro) and decides to take his autistic son, Ezra (newcomer William Fitzgerald), on a road trip amid questions about the boy’s future.

“You’re fighting for something,” De Niro says in the trailer. “You might have to suffer consequences, but it’s worth it because you did it.”

Later in the footage, Cannavale says, “A dad’s job is to take his son down the field. If he gets tackled, all that dad wants is for that kid to pick up the ball and to take it the rest of the way.”

Goldwyn (Conviction, The Last Kiss) directed the film from a script by Tony Spiridakis. Goldwyn, Spiridakis, William Horberg and Jon Kilik serve as producers.

Ezra premiered at TIFF in September. In his review for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Michael Rechtshaffen wrote, “It may possess all the telltale markings of standard-issue fall film fest audience awards fodder, but Ezra, about an 11-year-old who’s unmistakably on the spectrum, earns its crowd-hugging stripes legitimately thanks to its superb ensemble and sensitive direction that never gets in the way of its knowing script.”