Serayah and Tyler Lepley Star in ‘Ruth & Boaz’ Trailer (Exclusive)

Serayah and Tyler Lepley bring to life a divine love story in Ruth & Boaz.

PEOPLE is exclusively debuting a new trailer for the romance, which is a modern-day retelling of the characters’ story from the Bible.

In Ruth & Boaz, rising hip-hop star Ruth Moably leaves the Atlanta music scene after a personal tragedy, opting for a fresh start in Tennessee, where she cares for her late boyfriend’s mother, Naomi (Phylicia Rashad).

While there, she meets Boaz (Lepley), who will come to surprise her as time passes. A logline teases that Ruth “finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had.”

This is the first film from preacher DeVon Franklin and Tyler Perry’s first-look partnership with Netflix, which brings faith-based films to the streamer.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Franklin shares that a sermon series inspired his vision for the film.

“Around this time I had been doing a sermon series and teaching from the Book of Ruth about what it means to be single,” Franklin, 47, says. “When I was going through that as we were trying to figure out what the first movie would be, I was like, ‘Oh, wait a minute: There’s never been a modern version, to my knowledge, of this biblical love story, and there’s never been a modern version of this biblical love story that featured people of color.’ ” 

After getting Perry’s approval, Franklin tapped Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan for the script, while Alanna Brown serves as director.

The film’s casting process was driven by divine alignment — Franklin personally asked Serayah to audition for the role of Ruth after producing BET+’s Kingdom Business, in which she starred. She submitted her audition tape while filming the upcoming horror film Goons in New Orleans — and so did her eventual costar Lepley, who was shooting Goons at the same time.

“ We were on set with Goons, and then we’re going over here for the chemistry read via Zoom,” Lepley, 38, says. “We’re in the same hotel, so we got a chuckle out of that. I’ve worked with [Serayah] on like three different projects and it’s different every time because she knows how to go there. She’s a true professional.”

For Serayah, joining the cast of Ruth & Boaz meant working with Perry for the first time. She tells PEOPLE she really enjoyed using her “TP tap card,” which provides access to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta.

“I just really admire this icon that we have that also reflects who we are,” says the actress, 30. “Just me driving onto that whole studio lot was very inspiring and I was definitely taking that all in. It was a great experience.”

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Perry, 55, has had a string of successes with his overall deal at Netflix since 2023 thanks to buzzy titles like A Jazzman’s Blues, Beauty in the Black, Madea’s Destination Wedding and Six Triple Eight starring Kerry Washington. He’s hoping to connect with audiences in the same way with this film.

“Ruth & Boaz is a beautiful film about two people falling in love while fighting against outside forces,” Perry says in a statement. “DeVon and I loved teaming up to tell a well-known story rooted in scripture but told in a universal way to be enjoyed by a wide audience. Our hope is that people everywhere feel as much love for these characters as we do.”

Ruth & Boaz is on Netflix Sept. 26.