Lionsgate released the official trailer for Mindcage, a starry new crime thriller about two detectives on the hunt for a copycat serial killer. Centering on the starry trio of Martin Lawrence, Melissa Roxburgh, and Academy Award nominee John Malkovich, the trailer gives at their reluctant partnership to prevent the murderer from claiming more victims for his disturbing art. Along the way, the case gets deeply personal for both detectives as they end up caught in both the copycat and original killer's web.
The trailer begins on a twisted note as a priest notices an odd angel statue in his church that happens to be the latest twisted piece from a serial killer. When Jake Doyle (Lawrence) sees the angel, he's immediately haunted by a past case involving The Artist (Malkovich), a brilliant but disturbed murderer who turned his victims into his exhibits. Jake helped put him behind bars for good, but now he's forced to contend with his worst fear - a copycat. In order to root out the killer, he teams up with detective Mary Kelly (Roxburgh) and the two go in for a meeting with the original killer for some sort of lead. Before they can start, however, Jake reveals that the case is more personal than he originally let on as The Artist also killed his previous partner.
Despite Jake's desire to see The Artist pay for his crimes, Mary can't get anything out of the killer without making a deal to commute his death sentence. Even once they meet his demands, he only gives some questionable help. His insanity is on full display as he speaks in riddles and religious imagery regarding his "art" and that of the copycat. He eventually turns this game of cat and mouse into a race against the clock when he deduces that Mary is the copycat's next victim. When the detectives find her whole life splayed across the killer's walls, the disturbing reality sets in, and it sets up a tense race to stop the psychopath and save Mary's life.
Mindcage marks only the third role for Lawrence since 2015. He's been outside of Hollywood's inner circle for some time now, only recently returning to the big screen with Bad Boys for Life in 2020. It's a bit of an unusual turn for the comedian best known for making audiences laugh with the Bad Boys franchise, Big Mama's House, and Martin, but with Manifest's Roxburgh and In the Line of Fire's Malkovich by his side, he'll get a chance to flex his dramatic muscles.
More on Mindcage's Director and Writer
Mauro Borrelli directs the film from a script penned by frequent collaborator Reggie Keyohara III. Together, the two have co-written several films with the most recent being WarHunt starring Rober Knepper and Mickey Rourke as well as The Recall with Wesley Snipes in 2017. On his own, Borrelli has been a sporadic contributor to the art department on a number of Disney projects.
Mindcage is due to release on December 16. Check out the trailer below.