MD Bastek
Vertical Entertainment just released a trailer for Abandoned, an upcoming horror film set for release in U.S. theaters on June 17th. Abandoned stars Emma Roberts, John Gallagher Jr., and Oscar nominee Michael Shannon.
Abandoned looks like a mix of supernatural and psychological thriller and mystery. Emma Roberts and John Gallagher, Jr. star as a young couple, Alex and Sara, with a baby, looking to escape city life by buying a house in the country.
Abandon’s trailer starts off with a typical haunted house scenario. A real estate agent (Kate Arrington) is showing Alex and Sara the house. Sara asks why no one hasn’t bought it. The real estate agent grimaces, pauses, and then tells them that a murder-suicide occurred there. “So, I suppose you’re out?” the agent asks. Sara looks at Alex and playfully responds, “You know, I don’t mind a little haunting.”
We see a shot of Sara trying to open a door. When Alex opens it, they find a bedroom, and Sara says that she thought the previous owners only had a daughter. Someone, a neighbor, who played Shannon, startles them when he enters the room and says, “There were two.”
The rest of the scenes are of Alex and Sara experiencing some strange things, such as missing objects and windows nailed shut. There are dark, shadowy scenes suggesting someone or something in the house. Sara talks to someone who is clearly a psychiatrist, with a close-up of a pill bottle. We also see Sara crying and saying that the move was supposed to change things.
It looks like Abandoned may use a haunted house scenario to set up perhaps a mystery coupled with psychological drama, which can give an audience an interesting twist. It looks as if Alex and Sara are looking to escape something other than just city life by moving. It looks as if they’re trying to hit the reset button after experiencing something unpleasant in their past. Whatever it is, it looks like moving into the house awakens something that Sara is trying to bury, and it looks as if she’s going to be a target for whatever or whoever is causing the strange events.
The official synopsis is “Abandoned follows the sharply intense lives of Sara (Emma Roberts), her husband Alex (John Gallagher Jr.), and their infant son as they move into a remote farmhouse, which harbors a dark, tragic history. As their home’s past is revealed, the mother’s fragility escalates to a state of psychosis that jeopardizes her own safety and that of her newborn son. Directed by Spencer Squire, the film stars Emma Roberts (American Horror Story, Nerve), John Gallagher Jr. (Peppermint), and Michael Shannon (Heart of Champions).“
Roberts is certainly no stranger to horror, with starring roles in Scream 4, the horror-comedy Scream Queens, and a recurring role in American Horror Story. Gallagher is a Tony Award winner for the musical Spring Awakening. He also starred in Green Day’s Broadway musical, American Idiot. His other Broadway credits include Jerusalem and Long Day’s Journey into the Night. His television and film credits include the drama series The Newsroom; the HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge; and the 2016 American science fiction psychological thriller 10 Cloverfield Lane. Shannon is a two-time Academy Award nominee for his roles in the 2008 period drama Revolutionary Road and the 2016 psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals. Shannon also earned Screen Actors Guild and Golden Globe nominations for his role in 2014’s 99 Homes and a Tony Award nomination for Long Day’s Journey into the Night.
Abandoned is written by Erik Patterson and Jessica Scott and directed by Spencer Squire. Abandoned arrives in theaters on June 17th.
