JP Nunez
Have you ever watched something and loved it even though you had no idea what you just saw? That was my experience with the trailer for IFC Midnight’s upcoming film A Banquet. I have no idea what’s going on in this trailer, but I’m completely sold.
The movie is about a widow named Holly whose teenage daughter claims that her body has been given over to some sort of higher power, and as a result, the girl refuses to eat. Surprisingly, she’s somehow not losing any weight, and this puzzling situation leads to some horrific consequences for Holly and her family.
That brief synopsis is admittedly pretty vague, and the trailer doesn’t help us out too much. It plays its cards pretty close to the chest choosing to focus more on atmosphere and visuals over explicit plot details, and in my opinion, that’s the exact right way to go. Too many movies these days give us a bit too much information in their trailers, so we know exactly what to expect.
But not this time. We have no idea what’s going to happen in this film, and that’s just the way I like it. All the trailer promises is that A Banquet is going to be a beautifully shot, deliberately paced, and super atmospheric chiller that eventually devolves into absolute chaos, and that’s more than enough to pique my interest.
Then, when you combine it with IFC Midnight’s amazing track record, I’m completely sold, and I need to find out what’s really going on here. Is the girl actually possessed (I’m going to guess that she is, but you never know)? If she is, what does the entity inside her want? And what kinds of horror is it willing to put this poor family through?
All we get is a few brief glimpses of the answers to those questions, but we don’t have anything too definitive yet. Instead, we’re going to have to wait until the movie actually comes out, and thankfully, that wait isn’t going to be too long. A Banquet hits theaters and VOD on February 18, so we’ll be able to find out soon if it lives up to the promise of its amazing trailer.
