Orion Pictures has released the firstThe Belko Experimentred-band trailer. The film takes place at a remote office building where the unsuspecting employees are thrown into a twisted experiment where they’re forced to kill each other or else an explosive in their heads will be detonated.Guardians of the Galaxywriter-directorJames Gunnpenned the screenplay withGreg McLean(Wolf Creek) directing.
The film played as part of the Midnight Madness section of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and was pretty well received, although I didn’t care too much for the movie when I saw it. As I said in myreview, “McLean wants a film that can both horrify and titillate his audience, but all he can do is churn our stomachs with nihilistic violence.” However, some may feel differently, and the film was one of the first to get picked up for distribution at TIFF, so clearly the studio feels like there’s an audience for what looks like, at least on the surface,Office SpacemeetsBattle Royale.
As for this trailer, it plays up the horror side of the film, which is probably the way to go. The attempts at humor fall largely flat, so it’s better to lean into the disturbing part of the narrative. I’m not sure if people will line up to see people kill each other if it doesn’t have sci-fi trappings likeThe Hunger Games, but at least the trailer is being honest with the premise.
Check outThe Belko Experimenttrailer below. The film starsJohn Gallagher Jr, Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Josh Brener, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, andMelonie Diaz.
Here’s the official synopsis forThe Belko Experiment:
The Belko Experiment explores a twisted social experiment, in which a group of 80 Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogata and ordered by an unknown voice on an intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed. It stars 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s John Gallagher Jr., Scandal‘s Tony Goldwyn, True Detective‘s Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Silicon Valley‘s Josh Brener, Guardians of the Galaxy‘s Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn and Melonie Diaz, who co-starred in Fruitvale Station.
