Chappaquiddick Trailer Dives Into A Deadly Kennedy Coverup

The death of an innocent woman becomes a crisis for Camelot in Chappaquiddick, and you can check out the first trailer for the scandalous true story now.

Set in Massachusetts in 1969, Chappaquiddick tells the story of a nighttime car ride gone incredibly awry, with sitting senator Ted Kennedy accidentally driving off of a bridge with a 28-year-old passenger. While the senator was able to swim to freedom, his passenger was trapped, and drowned.

Following the incident, Kennedy returned to his hotel and assembled his powerful family to strategize their response to the death, not reporting the trapped passenger for 10 hours. The incident opened Kennedy up to accusations of manslaughter, but Kennedy—no doubt thanks to his family's privilege and powerful connections—ultimately pled guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident with personal injury, receiving a two-month suspended sentence.

The incident, which took place six years after the assassination of John Kennedy and one year after the assassination of Robert Kennedy, has been cited as the reason why the senator did not pursue a presidential run in 1972 or 1976.

From the trailer, the movie looks to be a chilling examination of the legal invulnerability that power and influence can buy. It stars Jason Clarke as Ted Kennedy, Ed Helms as Joe Gargan, Bruce Dern as Joe Kennedy Sr., Jim Gaffigan as Paul F. Markham, Clancy Brown as Robert McNamara, and Taylor Nichols as Ted Sorensen. 

The role of the deceased, Mary Jo Kopechne, is being filled by Kate Mara, once again playing a role where she gets murked by a powerful politician on-screen and gets, like, absolutely no justice for it.

Chappaquiddick is directed by John Curran, who previously directed Tracks, Stone, and The Painted Veil, with a script written by Taylor Allen and Andrew Logan. It will be released in theaters on April 6, 2018.