Preview Review: The Best and Most Questionable Movie Trailers of the Week

Image via Complex Original

Genre: Black-Comedy, Thriller 

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Stars: Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Matthias Schoenaerts

Release Date: May 13, 2016

Way back in 2010 our savior Tilda Swinton was cheated out of an Oscar nomination for her role in Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love. Swinton, who is Scottish, plays a Russian woman who is the matriarch of a wealthy Italian family. Yes, it means she was required to speak in Russian-accented Italian for the role! Guadagnino’s latest effort, the English-language drama A Bigger Splash, seems to be another wonderful showcase for Swinton’s talents. A Bigger Splash stars Swinton and French actor Matthias Schoenaerts as a couple vacationing on a remote Italian island. When one of Swinton’s old friends, played by Ralph Fiennes shows up with his daughter (Dakota Johnson), trouble ensues. Inspired by Jacques Deray's La Piscine, A Bigger Splash looks to be a highly erotic drama featuring some of today’s hottest talents. 

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Director: Jason Zada

Stars: Natalie Dormer, Taylor Kinney 

Release Date: January 8, 2016

It’s about time Natalie Dormer leads a film. The English actress, who garnered a large fan base for her starring role in The Tudors, doubled that fan base by a million after slaying on Game of Thrones as Margaery Tyrell. Now she stars in The Forest, a horror/thriller flick about a young woman who ventures into Japan’s “Suicide Forest” looking for her identical twin sister. From the looks of the trailer, the mission drives her insane. Side note: The Forest is the second film we’ve heard of in the past year that takes place in the infamous forest, the first being Gus Van Sant's Sea of Trees, which was a dud at Cannes. Hopefully, Dormer’s film proves better.  

Genre: Drama

Director: Gaspar Noé

Stars: Karl Glusman, Aomi Muyock, Klara Kristin 

Release Date: October 30, 2015

Gaspar Noé has made a career infuriating people. His latest film, Love, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year explores the relationship between film student Murphy and his ex-girlfriend Electra. After she goes missing, Murphy finds himself looking back at their past. Nothing too risqué, right? WRONG. Love has been described as pretty pornographic, and although this trailer is cut so to make it look only slightly erotic, apparently there’s nothing tame about it. 

Genre: Drama

Director: John Wells

Stars: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Brühl

Release Date: October 23rd 

Bradley Cooper has been nominated for three acting Oscars now. While he might snag a fourth nomination for his role in David O. Russell’s upcoming Joy, he also has Burnt to work with.  Cooper plays a self-destructive chef who has lost his restaurant and tries to start over in London. With a cast that includes Sienna Miller, Omar Sy, Daniel Bruhl, Emma Thompson, and Uma Thurman, Burnt doesn’t seem to bring anything new to the table (HA), but its wonderful ensemble cast should make it entertaining enough. 

Genre: Drama, Romance

Director: Ross Katz

Stars: Teresa Palmer, Benjamin Walker

Release Date: February 5, 2016

“Your dog knocked up my dog.” That’s the meet cute in The Choice, the latest Nicholas Sparks book to be adapted to the screen. Starring Teresa Palmer, who is too talented for this kind of role, and Benjamin Walker (who?), The Choice sees these two young, pretty, and white lovers through a series of Sparksian obstacles. With their blossoming romance comes a boyfriend in the way and a tragic accident that brings up a whole new set of problems. To be fair, while The Choice appears to be an expected tearjerker, there have been worse pairings than Palmer and Walker (see The Lucky One).