While Larry Kramer’s The Normal Heart was written nearly three decades ago, HBO’s film adaptation of the play hopes to resonate with today’s audiences and convey its message of tenacity and hope. Based on true events and individuals, the film revolves around the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York in the early 1980s and the attempts of a group of gay men to fight ignorance, panic, prejudice in their efforts to raise awareness and find a way to treat a disease that would go on to claim millions of lives.

“It can keep reminding people that it wasn’t so very long ago, and we were not there for each other in a way that is really shocking. To forget is to make the same mistake again. … It’s great to remind people, to say, ‘Yes, this is what happened, so let’s be mindful of each other and be loving and compassionate,” said Julia Roberts in an interview with USA Today. Roberts plays Emma Brookner, a doctor and activist who treated and advocated for patients due to her familiarity with the dangers of viral disease from her own struggle with childhood polio.

Mark Ruffalo leads The Normal Heart‘s star-studded cast as Ned Weeks, a stubborn and occasionally unlikable screenwriter considered to be Kramer’s alter ego in the film. In his attempts to create awareness of the disease that was spreading throughout the gay community, Ned had to get through a variety of obstacles, from disinterested and fearful government officials to fellow gay men who refused to relinquish their hard-fought sexual freedom to avoid the infection.

“He was a prophet. He saw it as an existential threat in a way that nobody else did. … He’s running from person to person trying to relate the truth of what is coming and no one wants to believe it,” said Ruffalo. “What do you do but scream and yell and try to get attention? He understood that that was his place and it was brutal to him.”

A Normal Heart, which also stars Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and Alfred Molina, is directed by Ryan Murphy. More than just a political call to arms to increase HIV/AIDS recognition, Ruffalo believes that Kramer’s story has expanded into a look at human nature.

“What was so surprising was how much about love this actual story ended up being. It was love in every different manifestation: Brotherly love, sexual love, love of comrades in arms, the love of a culture, tough love, the love of honesty. It went from a movie about AIDS to a movie about love and human experience.”

“As horrific as the disease is and was, it did bring people together and created a voice that still resonates today. We need to recognize that we stand on their shoulders to have a lot of rights that we have today, like marriage,” adds Bomer. “We owe so much to Larry. He was somebody who stood up at a time when it was massively unpopular to do so.”