Chris here, reeling from the trailer feast happening this Monday. As teased in previous days, we get our first look at Luca Guadagnino's grisly Suspiria rehash and Steve McQueen's heist thriller adaptation Widows. Both films have a host of elements to bring our anticipation to a fever pitch (Suspiria: intriguing director/genre pairing, Widows: the powers of McQueen matched with author Gillain Flynn on writing duties) but that doesn't mean they don't also have their question marks. Do both films find the auteurs reaching for mainstream sensibilities? Is there any Oscar play here? And what of the sizeable female ensembles in both?
Both films are heavily speculated to launch at the Venice Film Festival, since both filmmakers have previously debuted films there. If you haven't already gorged on both (or need a second watch, third, fourth, etc). check out the two fantastic trailers after the jump and we'll break down the Yes No Maybe So)...
Suspiria
YES
- Mood, dread, enigmatic imagery. This is exactly what we want from our horror trailers without giving away too much of the goods.
- And its lack of gruesomeness does a lot to suggest that this won't just be the gorefest suggested by its now notorious CinemaCon footage.
- Great Moments in Title Font alert! Like if they brought Saul Bass back from the grave and he was super pissed about it.
- That stare across the table between Swinton and Johnson is like Carol from Hell. Into it.
NO
- "NAY!" screams the Argento purist, "NAY!" Guadagnino has been promising a reimagining unbeholden to Argento's aesthetics and it proves to be true here. But even the plot looks seperate from the original once you look beyond the fenceposts. Does an "in-name-only" remake borrow too much cachet? Hmmm.
- Oh so that's why the movie will be 2.5 hours! This is a lot of plot threads...
MAYBE SO
- ... the payoff of which seems to be more Swinton. (That heavily made up elderly person is her, gang!) Who are we to complain here?
- That's Thom Yorke of Radiohead delivering this brooding score, perhaps the element that most recalls the original film oddly. However, please tell us Guadagnino serves us at least one aptly used song choice (see "Love My Way" in CMBYN and "Emotional Rescue" in A Bigger Splash) - it's one of his trademarks!
Widows
YES
- See above cast list. Look at it again. Let it guide you in tough times. Put it on a t-shirt.
- It is about damn time that Viola Davis gets to headline a thriller.
- Looks like McQueen is following 12 Years a Slave with a firmly mainstream film that doesn't sacrifice his hard-hitting emotional intensity.
- Folks seem sluggish on the film's Oscar potential, but this looks primed to change once the season really kicks off. Genre or no, the pedigree is enviable and it checks a lot of boxes elsewhere.
NO
- And maybe the middling Oscar talk is because this looks overly familiar plot wise. Is this just the fancy version of the kind of movies Mark Wahlberg releases every January?
- Bad things happen when Jacki Weaver wears wigs.
MAYBE SO
- Hellooooo, Mr. Kaluuya.
- Viola wailing in a power suit. Debicki deflecting. Cynthia boxing. Michelle monologuing. That's the movie and everything else could be set dressing.
As of now, it's an unwavering YES on both. What are your thoughts on the trailers?