Marionette trailer: Creepy kid movie gets On Demand release in November

Nearly thirty years after making the 1993 Dutch short film De marionettenwereld, director Elbert van Strien has returned to the concept with a feature expansion titled Marionette. Now S&R Films will be giving the film an On Demand release on Spectrum, Comcast, Cox, DirecTV, Dish, and Fios, with exclusive digital play on Amazon and Vimeo, on November 3rd. One month later, on December 3rd, Marionette will be reaching iTunes, Vudu/Fandango, and Google Play. The Marionette trailer is embedded above, and the poster can be seen below.

Elbert van Strien had been planning the feature expansion of his short for a while, and apparently Matt Damon had expressed interest in starring in it sometime along the way. Instead of Damon, the lead role in Marionette ended up being played by Thekla Reuten (Warrior Nun) – but Reuten let it be known that nothing changed about the character except the name and the gender pronouns. Reuten told NU.nl,

The script is substantively strong and timeless, even now it is still very relevant. Nothing has changed in the role, only a ‘she’ has been made of it. So it is not a character with stereotypes, and I felt that when I read it. Marianne is a no-nonsense woman without fuss.”

Marionette tells the following story:

In the wake of losing her husband in a seemingly random accident, child psychiatrist Marianne Winter starts life anew in Scotland. There, she begins treating a secretive 10-year-old who claims to control the future through his drawings. When his horrific sketches start coming true, Marianne begins an obsession that will derail her life and reality.

Reuten is joined in the cast by Peter Mullan, Elijah Wolf, Emun Elliott, Sam Hazeldine, Bill Paterson, Rebecca Front, and Dawn Steele.

What did you think of the Marionette trailer? If you’re a fan of creepy kid movies, this looks like an interesting entry in the sub-genre.