Matt Damon gets political in his new movie Promised Land, which tackles the issue of ‘fracking,’ the process of hydraulic fractured drilling, which has been at the root of great political debate in the US for some time. Its effects on drinking water and the debate surrounding energy use is a controversial one and has been gaining notoriety. The arrival of Promised Land will inevitably bring that debate to the awareness of even more American citizens.

In an interview with Reuters, though Damon was not prepared to weigh in on either side of the environmental debate. "The point is that the movie should start a conversation. It's certainly not a pro-fracking movie, but we didn't want to tell people what to think.” Damon also said that whilst the issue of fracking was at the centre of the story. “It wasn't that we said we wanted to make a movie about 'fracking' as much as we wanted to make a movie about American identity, about real people. We wanted to make a movie about the country today, where we came from, where we are and where we are headed.”

Promised Land also stars Frances McDormand and John Krasinski (possibly best known for his role in the US version of The Office) and is scheduled for release in April 2013.

Watch the trailer for Promised Land