Netflix has released the first official trailer for Oxygen, the new film by Crawl director Alexandre Aja. Oxygen looks a lot like the 2010 Ryan Reynolds flick Buried, but in space — which is definitely enough to get us excited. In addition to Mélanie Laurent leading the movie, Oxygen stars Mathieu Amalric and Malik Zidi. The film is written by Christie LeBlac.
As seen in the teaser trailer released on Wednesday, Laurent plays a woman who wakes up in a cryogenic unit without any idea of how she got there, or even who she is. Of course, the oxygen level is quickly depleting — hence the title — so the clock is ticking. Can she remember who she is, and most importantly, find a way out?
Earlier this year, Aja teased his new sci-fi thriller "with an existential twist" during an interview with Collider. Before you start comparing the trailer to Buried, rest assured Aja thought of that first, as that was one of his goals with Oxygen the moment he read the script. "It got me thinking of the best of Buried, but with a 28 Days Later twist. I was in it all the way, I pictured myself waking up locked in this cryo unit, trying to figure out who put me there and why, I felt her desperation." Apparently, the 28 Days Later comparison isn't just random, because Aja teased that Oxygen will take "a big post apocalyptic and emotional departure."
Fans of Aja's gorier and more violent genre fare, like Crawl or The Hills Have Eyes, may be disappointed to hear the director say the story isn't super bloody, but instead, he teases a "mystery box built like a labyrinth from which you have to escape," which is an intriguing departure for the French filmmaker.
Oxygen will premiere on Netflix on May 12. You can watch the trailer below.