Paul Schrader’s newest film, The Card Counter, has released a new set of clips as well as character posters and wow, do we want these on a set of playing cards. The new posters feature the film’s three leads, played by Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, and Tye Sheridan, respectively, promoting the tense, Martin Scorsese-produced thriller ahead of its release on September 10.
Subtitled “reap what you sow," the three posters see our leads looking stoic in front of the three most important face cards in a deck of cards: a king for Isaac, playing the titular card counter and former military interrogator William Tell; a queen for Haddish, as Tell’s mysterious financial backer La Linda; and a jack for Sheridan, playing Tell’s friend Cirk. The cards drip what looks like blood behind them, betraying the sinister nature of the gambling world these characters find themselves in. Each released clip for the film teases the interpersonal relationship between the trio, including a scene where Tell, La Linda, and Cirk sit around a table and discuss Tell's habit for playing poker, as well as a more emotional monologue from Tell as he sits in what appears to be a prison.
Schrader’s first film since the Ethan Hawke-led First Reformed, The Card Counter follows Isaac’s Tell as he is roped into a plot to exact revenge on a former military superior, played by Willem Dafoe. But, with his past threatening to break free and ruin everything he’s worked for — including his relationship with La Linda — Tell must fight against time to complete his mission with Cirk, or risk losing everything he knows and loves.
The Card Counter premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 2, making it the second of Isaac’s upcoming films to premiere at the festival. (Dune is also set to premiere in the out-of-competition category, while The Card Counter screens in competition.) Executive produced by Scorsese, William Olsson, Lee Broda, Ruben Islas, and Stanley Preschutti, the film is sure to be an electric and thrilling ride worthy of Schrader’s trademark cinematic intensity
The Card Counter is written and directed by Schrader and premieres in theaters everywhere on September 10. Check out the brand new posters and clips below:
