Kate Winslet Shares Trailer for Directorial Debut ‘Goodbye June’ (Exclusive)

Kate Winslet is taking the reins as director of a personal new family drama coming to Netflix.

PEOPLE has the exclusive first trailer for Goodbye June, the Oscar winner’s directorial debut that was written by her son, Joe Anders.

Set during Christmastime, four adult siblings grapple with an unexpected turn in their mother’s health, sending them and their “exasperating father into chaos as they navigate messy family dynamics in the face of potential loss,” per a synopsis.

“But their quick-witted mother, June, orchestrates her decline on her own terms — with biting humor, blunt honesty and a lot of love,” the synopsis adds.

Winslet, 50, tells PEOPLE the film is “funny, heartwarming and real,” and she could relate to the subject matter.

“I experienced the loss of a parent, and I have gone through the juggernaut of emotions that the siblings in Goodbye June suddenly have to face,” says the star, whose mom died from cancer in 2017.

“Some of the most trying relationships in our lives can often be with the people we love the most dearly in the world, and that fascinates me,” says Winslet. “I didn’t want to shy away from the reality of that. Loss happens to us all and can bring about acutely odd moments with loved ones that rarely ever occur outside of those situations.”

Winslet explains that she always wants audiences to “feel seen, acknowledged and entertained” through the roles and stories she chooses in her career, and Goodbye June was no exception.

“The story of Goodbye June covers an intensely complicated family as they navigate an unusual set of circumstances as they are thrown together unexpectedly and have to tolerate each other, and don’t necessarily succeed,” she says.

The cast includes Winslet alongside Toni Collette, Johnny Flynn, Andrea Riseborough, Timothy Spall and Helen Mirren, plus Stephen Merchant, Fisayo Akinade, Jeremy Swift and Raza Jaffrey.

Assembling the star-studded lineup was the “most exciting part” for the first-time director, who says “there is nothing more intoxicating than being in a room full of incredible actors.”

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“It mattered enormously to bring in actors who have stellar reputations for being wonderful human beings,” she adds, “because to go through the vast landscape of emotions that everyone does in the movie meant that trusting in me and trusting each other was a genuine priority. We needed to create an on-set environment that was full of joy.”

“Throughout the development process, myself and the writer, my son, Joe Anders, dared ourselves to start imagining who would fill the shoes of these interesting characters,” says Winslet.

“Each one of our wonderful cast members were the only actors we ever approached because we had never moved beyond imagining them playing those parts.”

She adds, “There was something about them all that just made sense when assembled as a fictional family. So it was truly incredible when they all agreed to come on board.”

Goodbye June is in select theaters Dec. 12, then streaming on Netflix Dec. 24