Andra Day Fights Demons with Glenn Close and Mo'Nique in Trailer for Lee Daniels' “The Deliverance” (Exclusive)

Andra Day tells PEOPLE this role "was much harder" than her Oscar-nominated turn in 2021's 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday'

Andra Day squares off with demons and a haunted house in her intense new film.

PEOPLE has the exclusive first trailer for The Deliverance, the latest film from director Lee Daniels (Precious, The Butler). The movie reunites him with his The United States vs. Billie Holiday star, who received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for playing Billie Holiday in the biopic.

In The Deliverance, Day stars alongside Glenn Close, Mo'Nique and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Day plays Ebony Jackson, a single mom struggling with alcoholism while raising three kids (Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton and Anthony B. Jenkins) and caring for her sick mother (Close).

Trying to keep the family afloat, Ebony relocates them for a fresh start — but haunting happenings inside their new home catch the attention of Child Protective Services. Soon, Ebony is in a "battle for her life and the souls of her children," a synopsis teases.

And it's all loosely based on a true story: the "Demon House" case from Gary, Indiana.

"It's a thriller, it's horror, but it's also a family drama. It's genre-bending," Day, 39, tells PEOPLE. "It's also a movie about faith, which is really important to me too."

Related: Andra Day Thought She 'Retired' from Acting After Playing Billie Holiday: 'I Was Out of My Depth'

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The singer-actress says there were "a lot of ways in which this role was much harder" than what she went through for her breakout performance in 2021's The United States vs. Billie Holiday.

"Billie was my first movie, and I was told so frequently that 'that's the hardest character you'll ever play.' No, that's not true!" says Day. "Which is great, because doing the work with Lee, and because he's such a phenomenal director, he was looking for something so specific and so nuanced. He challenged me more and was able to pull more out of me."

A highlight of the experience, Day says, was working with her costars Mo'Nique, Close and Ellis-Taylor.

"It was incredible being on a set of women who are at the top of their game and at the top of their craft and are still hungry, still wanting to do their best, still have that fire and will not stop until they get it," she says. "It was amazing."

The Deliverance is in select theaters Aug. 16, then on Netflix Aug. 30.

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