Shudder has just released a trailer for their new psychedelic horror film A Wounded Fawn, giving us a look at a romantic weekend getaway going very, very wrong. The new film comes from acclaimed director Travis Stevens and premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. A Wounded Fawn was also shown at FrightFest London and Fantastic Fest.
The film tells the story of Meredith Tanning (Sarah Lind) a museum curator who begins dating a man who turns out to be a charming serial killer, played by Josh Ruben. When the two go on a romantic getaway, Meredith soon finds herself fighting for her life, and facing a descent into madness.
The new trailer gives us a fresh look into the horror film. It opens with a woman in the kitchen talking to someone she's seemingly just started dating, a man in the background who looks, well, disturbed. Seconds later he comes up behind her and kills her. The trailer then cuts to our protagonist, Meredith working in her art gallery. The trailer then sets up the premise, all too familiar and all too spooky: two people having a romantic getaway in the woods, drinking wine, listening to music, and slowly descending into homicidal chaos.
It's easy to draw parallels between A Wounded Fawn and Fresh, a horror film with a similar setup that was released on Hulu earlier this year, however, viewers might want to check their preconceived notions regarding this film at the door. While Fresh explored the trade and consumption of flesh, it looks like A Wounded Fawn is taking a more surreal direction with its horror. The director, Stevens, drew inspiration from Greek mythology and surrealist art for the visually lush film.
Collider's own Maggie Lovitt reviewed the film after its showing at Tribeca, and noted that "Comparisons between Fresh and A Wounded Fawn come to an end once Bruce and Meredith move beyond dinner and dancing to old records." Her review continued, however, noting the trend of dating horror stories in films, stating "between Fresh and A Wounded Fawn, there seems to be an emerging trend in 2022 of cautionary tales, warning women to steer clear of the dating game. Or at least don’t go on weekend getaways to secluded cabins with men you don’t really know."
A Wounded Fawn will be released exclusively to Shudder on December 1, 2022. Until then, you can check out the new trailer below.