The Promise (film)

The Promise is a 2016 American historical drama directed by Terry George, who co-wrote the screenplay with Robin Swicord. Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon and Christian Bale star in a story set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire, just before and during the Armenian genocide. At its centre is a love triangle: Mikael, a young Armenian medical student from the village of Sirun; Ana, an Armenian-born artist raised in France; and Chris, an American journalist based in Paris. Their personal entanglement unfolds against the collapse of the empire and the mass violence surrounding them. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2016, and opened in the United States on April 21, 2017, through Open Road Films. It drew mixed reviews and fared poorly at the box office despite a budget of roughly $90 million, though the studio stressed that its chief aim was to draw attention to the events depicted rather than to turn a profit.