A new trailer has been released for John Hillcoat's Lawless.

The film, set in the 1930s during the prohibition in the United States, revolves around the real-life Bondurant brothers, played by Shia Labeouf and Tom Hardy, an alcohol bootlegging gang trying to stay one step ahead of the law .

The clip reveals that the law in this case is personified by Guy Pearce, a special agent, who is out to take them down or get his hands on a slice of their business. The brothers also face the threat of a local gangster, played by Gary Oldman, who is looking to muscle in on their turf.

Early screenings of the film have been positively received, with a stellar cast and some bloodthirsty action - typical of Nick Cave, who penned the screen adaptation of Matt Bondurant's novel of the same name.

Lawless is the second film this year in which Hardy and Oldman face off, as the pair will clash in the roles of Bane and Commissioner Gordon in the eagerly awaited The Dark Knight Rises, due for release on 20 July.

The last couple of years have seen Hardy marking himself out as one of the top actors to watch.

Labeouf, who first came into the public eye as a talented young actor with his performance in Holes in 2003, has recently suffered a critical and popular backlash, largely due to his connection with the Transformers series. Lawless offers him a chance to remind audiences of the talent and charm that first made him noteworthy.

Hillcoat seems to enjoy exploring the darker side of human nature, whether in the blood-soaked violence of 2005's Australian western The Proposition, or his adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's jet-black apocalypse drama The Road. He is certainly a director who never looks to sanitise a story and seems to revel in the grime and grit of reality.

His violent portrayal of the world of prohibition will be released in September.

Hollywood