A Prayer for the Dying is a Western thriller set in 1870s Wisconsin, where a diphtheria outbreak forces the town of Friendship to consider quarantine. Johnny Flynn plays Jacob Hansen, the town’s priest, undertaker and sheriff, charged with enforcing the restrictions as a wildfire threatens to drive residents from the area. The film is due in cinemas on 9 October.

The exclusive preview features a travelling circus and medicine show seeking passage through the territory. Its animals are elaborate fakes, and when Professor Sylvester McCoffer offers Hansen a bribe, Hansen refuses and confronts him. Based on Stewart O’Nan’s 1999 novel, the film is directed by Dara Van Dusen, who co-wrote the screenplay with O’Nan; it was filmed in Slovakia and also stars John C. Reilly.