San Diego Comic-Con wasn’t the only place unveiling coming attractions this week. Here are three other trailers that have us intrigued this week.
Another Margaret Atwood adaptation. A dude navigating a mid-life crisis. A creepy look back at the adolescence of a killer. This week’s trailers (other than the spate of films and shows previewed at San Diego Comic-Con, anyway) cover a wide range of topics and styles, and they each are attention-grabbing in their own way. Let’s watch, shall we?
Alias Grace
Release date: Nov. 3
Um, a period drama about a servant accused of murdering her employer and his lover that’s based on a true story? Yes, please. This will be the second buzzy streaming adaptation from a Margaret Atwood work this year, following Hulu’s acclaimed take on The Handmaid’s Tale, and if they’re anything alike (characters in both seem to sport white headwear, for starters), this will be a tense, suspenseful thriller. Jezebel reports Alias Grace will be a six-hour adaptation and will be shown on Canada’s CBC first. Canadian actress Sarah Gadon plays Grace, the accused servant, alongside Kerr Logan as stable hand James McDermott, as well as Anna Paquin as the murdered lover, Nancy Montgomery.
“I’d rather be a murderess than a murderer,” Grace chillingly tells us in the trailer, “if those are the only choices.”
We’ll definitely be adding this one to the Netflix queue.
Brad’s Status
Release date: Sept. 15
The whole “dissatisfied middle-aged guy goes through a period of self-discovery” genre is pretty crowded at this point. But between the stellar cast and the overall air of sweetness and authenticity this trailer gives off, we may be readier for another entry into the collection than we thought. Ben Stiller plays the titular Brad here, a 47-year-old dad, who’s feeling stuck and disappointed in how his life stacks up in comparison to his friends’. The story seems to revolve around a college tour Brad takes his music genius son on and what he learns from the experience. “Are you having a nervous breakdown?” Brad’s son asks him at one point in the trailer.
A little familiar? Perhaps. But with Stiller’s signature bumbling charm and supporting cast members like Jenna Fischer (who, by the way, is definitely not old enough to have a college-age son, right?) and Jemaine Clement, it still looks promising.
My Friend Dahmer
Release date: Later this year
I don’t know about you, but I love a good creepy origin story. This one, a film adaptation of John “Derf” Backderf’s 2012 graphic novel of the same name, tells the backstory of Jeffrey Dahmer, the prolific serial killer who “murdered 17 men and boys in the Midwest United States between 1978 and 1991 before being captured and incarcerated,” according to the movie’s blurb. Rolling Stone reports that Backderf was friends with the real-life Dahmer when the two were Ohio teens so there’s a double true story vibe to the whole thing.
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In the disturbing starring role? Disney Channel star Ross Lynch, in something of a departure from his work on Austin & Ally.