All We Had trailer: Katie Holmes struggles to raise a rebellious teen

Following in the footsteps of Angelina Jolie, Jodie Foster, and Meg Ryan, Dawson’s Creek and Batman Begins actress Katie Holmes turned to filmmaking after a nearly 20-year career in front of the camera, and a new trailer for the upcoming drama All We Had offers an emotional preview of her skills as a director.

The film, based on Annie Weatherwax’s 2014 novel of the same name, marks Holmes’ feature directorial debut, and follows a young mother, Rita (Holmes), who struggles to make ends meet in the hopes of forging a better life for her teenage daughter, Ruthie (Stefania LaVie Owen). The pair navigates life on the edge of poverty in the mid-2000s, enduring several personal and professional setbacks (Ruthie is rebellious in the face of Rita’s misadventures in holding down a job as a waitress) along the way.

All We Had‘s new clip teases raw performances from the film’s star-studded ensemble cast, which includes Luke Wilson, Judy Greer, Richard Kind, and Mark Consuelos — who likened Holmes to Wonder Woman during an April interview with PEOPLE.

“What I loved about these characters is they’re very — they felt original and authentic, and their struggles are like so many people’s struggles,” Holmes previously told EW about the movie ahead of its world premiere at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival. “There was a real humanity to all of these characters, and I think that’s what drew me to the project and to the book in the first place.”

Eve Lindley, who plays a transgender waitress, Peter Pam, in the film, also championed Holmes’ perspective on the female-centric production.

“I loved the character, and I was so pleased to bring her to life,” she told EW. “It was a movie that was run by women and directed by a woman, and it was about a lot of women helping each other. … Those are really important stories to tell.”

All We Had is in theaters and On Demand beginning Dec. 9. Check out the film’s new trailer and poster below.