As our very own Chris Bumbray will review the latest at Sundance, those of us not lucky enough to attend will get to enjoy all of the new trailers revealed this week for the festival films. Here we have our first look at THE EAST starring Brit Marling, Ellen Page, Alexander Skarsgard, and Patricia Clarkson.
THE EAST tells the story of a contract worker (Brit Marling) who is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group, only to find herself falling for its charismatic leader. The film comes from Zal Batmanglij, director of last year’s chilling SOUND OF MY VOICE.
As much as Marling played the charismatic leader of a cult in SOUND OF MY VOICE, she looks perfect in the opposite role as the infiltrator in this film. The eco-terror plot device is timely but still feels like it is going to divide audiences with some claiming it is a liberally biased horror film while others will tout it as proof of conservative failings. For me, it looks like a damn goof thriller.
The idea of cults and cult-like personalities is incredibly interesting to me. Batmanglij looks to have crafted two excellent films to start his career as a director exploring this sub-culture and I hope he continues to. That Ellen Page voice-over is going to stick with me for a while.
Expect THE EAST to pick up distribution at the Sundance Film Festival with a release date to follow.