“I consider what people tell me far less interesting than what they choose not to tell me.”

With these words, Oscar winner Anthony Hopkins, one of the most prolific actors of his age, transforms into Sigmund Freud, one of the most prolific thinkers of his.

Hopkins stars as the founder of psychoanalysis in Freud’s Last Session, for which EW has an exclusive look at the first trailer. Scheduled for a Dec. 22 theatrical release, the film shows Freud approaching the end of his life. His “last session” is an encounter with the revered author of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis, played by Matthew Goode. (Coincidentally, Hopkins played Lewis in 1993’s Shadowlands.)

While the movie is not based on a true story, the imaginary encounter takes its characters seriously and places them in London, where Freud moved just prior to the outbreak of the war.

The pair of icons find themselves in a fierce debate over the existence of God as the world around them hurtles toward World War II. The ongoing debate forces them to explore personal relationships of the past and present, including Lewis’ time serving during World War I.

Hopkins may be the most revered actor to bring the complicated psychoanalyst to the big screen, though there have been plenty of excellent portrayals of Freud, such as Viggo Mortensen in A Dangerous Method and Montgomery Clift in the John Huston-directed Freud.

The movie is based on a play by Mark St. Germain, which was itself based on the book The Question of God by Armand Nicholi. St. Germain wrote the script for the film, and it was directed by Matt Brown (The Man Who Knew Infinity).

Watch EW’s exclusive trailer reveal in the video above.  ⬆️