What if your ex-girlfriend made a top secret career change?

It’s easy to lose track of people over time. How many of you have old friends, partners, even family members that you haven’t spoken to in years? Who knows what they could be up to?

In a new trailer for The Union, Mike (Mark Wahlberg) gets the opportunity to find out. When his high school ex-girlfriend, Roxanne (Halle Berry), reenters his life, she’s had quite the career change — and soon, Mike is whisked off on a whirlwind adventure that turns his quiet working-class world upside down. “We always felt Roxanne had to be the love of this guy’s life; he stayed where he was because he was hoping that she would actually come back into his life somehow,” Wahlberg told Netflix. “They had a sort of forbidden high school relationship, and he’d do anything to make her smile and anything to make her happy and to never let her out of his sight again. That’s his entire motivation –– her smile.”

Of course, Roxanne has a slightly different motivation; she’s a member of The Union, a top secret and slightly unorthodox government agency. “The Union does the dirty work for the CIA and FBI,” Berry told Netflix. “When you really need the job done, you call in this group of people. They’re blue-collar workers, everyday average people who get plucked by The Union to be trained to shoot and do combat intelligence and tactical weaponry.”

And Mike has just been recruited. It’s a mission he’ll never forget, and you’re invited along for the ride. Get briefed on all the details below.

What’s The Union about?

Mike (Wahlberg) is happy living a simple life as a construction worker in his native New Jersey –– until his long-lost high school sweetheart, Roxanne (Berry), shows up with more on her mind than romance. Knowing he’s the right man for the job, she recruits Mike on a dangerous intelligence mission in Europe that thrusts them back together into a world of spies and high-speed car chases, with sparks flying along the way. Directed by Julian Farino (Giri/Haji, Entourage) from a script by Joe Barton and David Guggenheim, The Union also stars Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, and J.K. Simmons.

The Union came about after Wahlberg asked his longtime producing partner Stephen Levinson a simple question: “What would it be like if we ever got to be the guy in the tuxedo? The super spy.”

Where can I watch a trailer for The Union?

Check it out at the top of this article!

Who’s in the cast of The Union?

The Union’s ensemble cast includes:

Mark Wahlberg (Spenser Confidential, Me Time)

Halle Berry (Monster’s Ball, Bruised)
Mike Colter (Luke Cage, Social Distance)
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (The Bourne Identity, The Mummy Returns)
Jessica De Gouw (Arrow, Underground)
Alice Lee (Sierra Burgess Is a Loser, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)
Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen, Lincoln)
J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, Whiplash)

In the midst of all of The Union’s action, the filmmakers wanted the connection between the two protagonists to stay in the spotlight. “Roxanne and Mike’s relationship is going to define the movie,” Farino said. “For me, even the action in the movie was always about how to keep our characters integral to the explosions and fun and games.”

Wahlberg drew from an unlikely source while building his character. “Mike has this unique skill set in that he doesn’t really have any fear,” he said. “He’s a steelworker, and you think of that iconic image of guys sitting on a beam 50 stories in the air, eating a sandwich like they’re sitting on a curb.” Of course, Wahlberg wasn’t quite as casual about his stunts: “To go up there, even though you’ve got a wire on, it’s still pretty scary.”

When will The Union be on Netflix?

The Union arrives on Netflix on Aug. 16.