Ricky Gervais Dials Up the Cringe Factor in Trailer for David Brent: Life on the Road

Ricky Gervais was born to play David Brent, the astonishingly unself-aware boss from the The Office, the U.K. series he created and which provided the inspiration for Michael, Jim, Pam and the Dunder Mifflin crew in the beloved U.S. adaptation. Sadly for his fans, that show ran for only two six-episode seasons. But now, more than a decade after he went off the air, David Brent returns, cringe-worthy as ever, in the film David Brent: Life on the Road, which Gervais also wrote, directed and produced.

The movie follows Brent as he pursues the passion he so eagerly shared with his office-mates on the show: that of singer-songwriter. The trailer for Life on the Road, which takes the form of a mockumentary about a tour with his band, Foregone Conclusion, offers familiar glimpses of Brent’s self-amused giggle and unrelenting offensiveness in his quest to be politically correct. His musical style appears to have evolved, over the last decade, to include a messy appropriation of rap and reggae, only the flabbergasted crowds now extend far beyond the walls of the Wernham Hogg paper company.

Life on the Road opens in U.K. theaters on Aug. 19, and Netflix will distribute it in the U.S., though a date has not been set.