A Jewish family faces an existential threat as Nazis grab a foothold in the United States in the new trailer for HBO’s upcoming adaptation of the Philip Roth novel, The Plot Against America.
The alternate history centers around the Levins, a Jewish family in Newark, New Jersey — not unlike Roth’s own — who must confront a surge of anti-Semitism after the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1940 election and aligns the U.S. with Nazi Germany. Although Lindbergh never ran for president, he expressed sympathy with Nazi Germany, served as a spokesperson for the anti-war/nativist America First Movement and had a tendency to spout casual anti-Semitism.
The new trailer for The Plot Against America teases the ease with which Lindbergh rises to power through fear-mongering, while parents Herman and Elizabeth Levin (played by Morgan Spector and Zoe Kazan) grapple with how to best keep their children, Philip and Sandy (played by Azhy Robertson and Caleb Malis), safe. Complicating things further is the fact that Elizabeth’s sister, Evelyn (Winona Ryder), has married a conservative rabbi (played by John Turturro), who begins to stump for Lindbergh.
The Plot Against America was helmed by David Simon and Ed Burns of The Wire. The show premieres March 16th at 9 p.m. on HBO.
