Atmospheric thriller based on Donald Ray Pollock's "Southern Ohio Gothic".
The American South takes a beating yet again in Antonio Campos's thriller set in rural Southern Ohio. Hollywood has always presented this part of the country in a rather unflattering fashion as a place teeming with serial killers, violent drug-addicts and general brutality. This is another addition to the genre.
The trailer opens with Tom Holland receiving his father's gun as a birthday present. Something which he casually calls "the best present I ever got". This sets the dark tone of the trailer and it does not disappoint.
All characters look like they have something to hide and it makes it clear that this is a story that will have multiple threads - or even multiple timelines. A narrator informs that the heart of the story is how and why two people apart can have a connection. It talks about sins of the fathers and captures the rural atmosphere very well. What I found surprising was that how easily Holland has shed his Spiderman persona. He feels in complete sync with his character.
So the trailer is doing really well when Robert Pattinson appears as the preacher.
Then it becomes even more interesting.
Pattinson has proven repeatedly that he is a much better and versatile actor than the awful Twilight Saga let know. His turns in The Rover, Good Times and last year's The Lighthouse were all great. Here he plays a preacher and the very first shot of his conveys what kind.
Then there are Jason Clarke, Mia Wasikowska, Riley Keough, Bill Skarsgard, Harry Melling (Dudley!) among others who round up an excellent cast.
One of the best things about the trailer is that it does not give away the story. This looks like a gritty, atmospheric little thriller. Right up my alley!
Oh, and before you watch the trailer below scroll further down for Pattinson's preacher slamming a table and screaming "Delusions!"... for ten minutes straight!
Yeah, online is a strange place.
VERDICT: I'm In!