5 Exclusive GIFs to Whet Your Appetite for The Giver

Lois Lowry’s iconic, Newbury-winning novel The Giver will be tugging heartstrings in theaters starting August 15.

Starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Australian actor Brenton Thwaites, the film comes to theaters at a time when teen-oriented dystopian dramas are So. Hot.

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But The Giver, which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide, is the O.G. of dystopian young adult fiction. It was published in 1993, when “Hunger Games” were something aspiring grunge musicians were playing in Seattle while waiting for their big break.

To help build whatever anticipation wasn’t already heightened to a fever pitch by the film’s trailer (watch it below), we have five GIFs from The Giver, premiering exclusively on PEOPLE.com now. Enjoy.

The Giver (Bridges) shows Jonas (Thwaites) a sample of humanity’s stored memories. Prior to this moment, Jonas, like all members of the Community, sees his world in black and white. (Just like Pleasantville!)

Jonas meets The Giver for the first time.

This depicts the initial moment Jonas’s mind is opened to the collective feelings and thoughts of humanity. (Fun fact: This is what happens to Buzzfeed employees during orientation, but they receive memories exclusively from the ’90s.)

Jonas flees the Community, pursued by The Elders’ thugs (one of whom is played by Streep).

Jonas returns home to his mother ( Katie Holmes) and father (Alexander Skarsgard) after being shown the world as it really is. It’s kind of like when you returned home unbearably smug after freshman year of college, only on a much larger and more life-threatening scale.

Check out the trailer for The Giver, then catch it in theaters August 15.