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"The world's going to die. I can feel it coming," are the first words spoken by a narrator in "Fast Color," director Julia Hart's beautiful and beguiling new film. The narrator continues to inform us it has been eight years since the last drop of rain and the cost of water continue to rise because no one else knows what to do.

So, what's "Fast Color" about? From the establishing scenes, it's not immediately clear and that's the gently hypnotic splendor of the movie: it casts its spell right away and keeps you in a trance throughout. While it might seem bleak in its post-apocalyptic-like atmosphere, "Fast Color" continues to surprise at every turn and winds up being a much different movie than you originally expect.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as Ruth, who is on the run when we first meet her. She is checking into a motel, which charges $35 for the room and $26 for a half-serving of water. When she checks into the room, she has a whole routine, which she seems to have been doing most of her life. It turns out that Ruth has seizures, which shake the entire Earth, and this has put a target on her back. When a stranger who offers assistance to her in her travels ends up being a government official who wants to study her, Ruth is forced to go back to her childhood home. There she is reunited with her mother, Bo (Lorriane Toussaint, in a commanding supporting role) and her daughter Lila (Saniyya Sidney).

There are many ways to dissect the metaphors and visual cues on display here - and "Fast Color" is worth seeking out simply to do so - but at the forefront, the movie is about understanding the past and navigating the present. We get glimpses into Ruth's life as a child and how she carries those memories through adulthood, and the generational effects of her powers.

Mbatha-Raw is a unimpeachable movie star who has yet to be recognized as such, but her performance in "Fast Color" proves that she can mine a wealth of emotions in the quietest of moments. From her performance as a pop singer in "Beyond the Lights" to strong supporting turns in movies like "Miss Sloane," Mbatha-Raw has been worthy of her own movie time-and-time again. In "Fast Color," she wears Ruth's history in every scene without everything being spelled out in the screenplay (co-written by Hart and Jordan Horowitz).

Hart is a filmmaker who clearly cares deeply about the characters she puts on screen. Her 2016 film "Miss Stevens" followed a group of drama students and infused them with empathy rather than clichés, and she and Horowitz bring that warmth and dedication to the characters of "Fast Color." The movie's opening might set the stage for a small town dystopian thriller, but whispers of hope echo throughout. Hart is a sensitive filmmaker who wants us to know that Ruth - for everything she has been through  - will be okay.