Life presents enough challenges without family adding to the pile. For most people, family drama is a parasite that feeds on your psyche, infecting your everyday routine with questions of loyalty and forgiveness. In the teaser trailer for James Gray’s new period crime drama, Paper Tiger, two brothers examine whether blood is truly thicker than water when the Russian mafia makes their lives a living hell. Neon unveiled the Paper Tiger teaser trailer on Monday, giving crime drama fans a taste of the deadly challenges that await the Pearl family.
Family ties and lethal consequences
James Gray (Ad Astra, The Lost City of Z, The Immigrant) directs Paper Tiger from his own script, which focuses on two brothers who become entangled in a scheme that proves too good to be true. As they try to navigate the dangerous world of the Russian mafia, family bonds begin to fray with life-altering consequences.
Welcome to 1986 New York City
In Neon‘s new Paper Tiger teaser trailer, Gray’s intense drama finds us in Queens, New York, circa 1986, during the Reaganomics era. At a time when the Italian mob looms large over the city’s industrial waterways, the decline in structural integrity leaves room for a ruthless new wave of Russian mobsters to take control of the commercial ports and real estate along the heavily polluted Gowanus Canal.
Enter Gary Pearl (Adam Driver), a former cop turned private security advisor/consultant, looking to maintain his flashy lifestyle in the face of unprecedented change. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to keep his head above water, though the consequences of his actions eventually blow back on his brother Irwin (Miles Teller), Irwin’s wife Hester (Scarlett Johansson), and their kids. When a “can’t-miss” business opportunity goes wrong, Irwin’s family becomes the target of a harassment campaign to squeeze Gary for all he’s worth and more.
A nostalgic, hard-boiled return to form
Although today’s trailer is a mere tease, Neon’s promo has me excited about James Gray’s upcoming release. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a hard-boiled crime drama, and having grown up in New York during the ’80s, I can’t help but be fascinated by a story that could happen right outside my old window. I can already see glimmers of powerful performances from the three leads, and the film looks gritty and claustrophobic in a way that gets my blood pumping.
Paper Tiger releases in theaters on November 13, 2026. Make sure you check out our review of the film’s Cannes premiere here.
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