A few months back we caught our first look at Franklyn, the “neo-noir sci-fi thriller” from first-time director Gerald McMorrow, just before it premiered at the London Film Festival. At the time, it looked a little rough around the edges, and the early reviews were somewhat mediocre, but HanWay Films have finally released an official trailer for the flick and it has a lot more visual oomph to back it up.

The movie stars Ryan Phillippe as Jonathan Preest, a masked vigilante who is fighting against the oppressive religious forces that have taken over the dystopian world of Meanwhile City. Although the movie is an original piece written by McMorrow himself, it’s pretty clear what the influences are here: Dark City, V For Vendetta, Sin City, and The Crow, among others. While these are all great sources to draw from, I get the distinct feeling that the limited budget, director’s inexperience and acting constraints may hold this back from delivering on its true potential. Either way I’ll definitely be checking this out whenever it hits theatres here in North America. Franklyn will be released in the U.K. on February 20th; check out the trailer below.