Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult were recently seen in the big-screen international hit Mad Max: Fury Road, but if you have DirecTV you can now see them together on the small screen as well in Dark Places. Christina Hendricks also stars in the Gilles Paquet-Brenner adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel, a crime-thriller that follows Libby Day (Theron) 25 years after testifying against her brother for the murder of their family. When she encounters the Kill Club - a group obsessed with solving cold cases - new facets of her history begin to be revealed. The film also stars Chloë Grace MoretzCorey Stoll, and Drea de Matteo, and is currently playing domestically on DirecTV, with a stateside theatrical release August 7th.

Now with a cast like that, a story like this, and the buzz of Flynn's Gone Girl, you might wonder why Dark Places is getting a small screen release at home before a theatrical one, or why it's already rolling into international theaters. The answer to that is beyond me, but some new clips from overseas have made their way here. Hat tip to The Playlist for making them available:


Here’s the official synopsis for Flynn’s novel:

Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” As her family lay dying, little Libby fled their tiny farmhouse into the freezing January snow. She lost some fingers and toes, but she survived–and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, Ben sits in prison, and troubled Libby lives off the dregs of a trust created by well-wishers who’ve long forgotten her.

The Kill Club is a macabre secret society obsessed with notorious crimes. When they locate Libby and pump her for details–proof they hope may free Ben–Libby hatches a plan to profit off her tragic history. For a fee, she’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club… and maybe she’ll admit her testimony wasn’t so solid after all.

As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the narrative flashes back to January 2, 1985. The events of that day are relayed through the eyes of Libby’s doomed family members–including Ben, a loner whose rage over his shiftless father and their failing farm have driven him into a disturbing friendship with the new girl in town. Piece by piece, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started–on the run from a killer.

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