Trailer Talk: Blue Bayou, Flee, and more!

Blue Bayou

While I hadn’t seen his most recent film, 2019’s Ms. Purple, I did watch his breakthrough feature (technically not his feature debut), Gook, back in 2017, and I thought it was a really solid piece of work. This definitely looks like his biggest film to date, but not without losing the intimacy that largely defined his prior work. There’s a very timely quality to this, which initially put me off, but as the trailer went on, I was getting more sold by it. It does feel like it’s coming from a genuine place. But one thing I’m not entirely sold on just yet is Alicia Vikander’s accent. Still, I’ll check this out, I think it has the potential to be something really interesting.

Blue Bayou hits theaters on September 17th.

Flee

This looks wonderful. I love animated films that are geared towards adults, it’s something we rarely get in the west outside of comedy. Granted, this is an international production, not just with support from US based production companies, but it’s nice to see something like this get wide exposure here regardless. We also don’t get a ton of stories about refugees, and I think the story this is trying to tell is one that is worth telling. You can feel the intimacy through the images here, and if the film is even half as evocative as the trailer, this might be something special.

Flee will open in theaters on a currently unspecified date this fall.

Cryptozoo

Speaking of animation geared towards adults, this is a really enticing trailer. I have seen Dash Shaw’s feature debut, My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea, which I thought was interesting, if not ultimately my cup of tea. I can see that he really does have his own distinct animation style. The humor still doesn’t seem super appealing to me, but the atmospheric stuff and the animation itself is so cool to look at that it might be something compelling, and the voice cast is pretty solid here.

Cryptozoo will be released in select theaters and VOD platforms on August 20th.

Turning Red

Wow, that first bit in the teaser where it’s just the girl hoping nobody in class notices her mom is absolutely anxiety inducing. What a nightmare. Gotta say though, the transformation threw me off. Pixar sure likes to transform its characters, probably because it’s a fun challenge for the animators, and it probably helps service the overall metaphors and themes in a more clear way. This looks cute, and I’m happy Pixar is continuing with original ideas.

Turning Red opens in theaters on March 11, 2022.

Sweet Girl

Jason Mamoa gets his 90s-esque, mid-budget dad action movie, and I am here for it. He starred in this low budget action movie called Braven a while back that was pretty good (and after looking it up, the director of this film was a producer for Braven), and this looks like a big step up, obviously not as big as his DC work, but still. This looks very much like my cup of tea, and I’ve liked Mamoa as well as Isabela Merced in all the stuff I’ve seen them in. It just looks like a pretty good time, and the stunt work and fight choreography looks really well done and not overedited to death, which is always welcome.

Sweet Girl hits Netflix on August 20th.

Habit

I don’t think this looks particularly good, but after doing a bit of research, this project is apparently very controversial. There’s been some outrage due to the fact that Paris Jackson appears in the film as a “lesbian Jesus,” which…I mean, if there’s one thing that would make me curious to see this movie, that would be it, but I guess I can see why Christian groups would not take that too well. Although, I am reading conflicting reports about the claim, and this trailer doesn’t seem to make things any more clear. I guess we’ll just have to see the film to find out.

Habit hits select theaters and VOD platforms on August 20th.

Thoughts on any of the trailers? Feel free to discuss in the comments!