Ahead of the film’s screening at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend, a new NSFW trailer for the unique sci-fi actionerHardcorehas been released online. Written and directed byIlya Naishullerand executive produced byTimur Bekmambetov(Wanted), the film is shot entirely in POV perspective, meaning the whole movie is styled like a first person shooter video game—except this is a live-action feature film. Indeed, even the synopsis refers to the main character as “you”, so the goal here is complete and total immersion with the help of actors likeSharlto CopleyandDanila Kozlovsky.
The story ofHardcorefinds “you” being brought back to life by your dead wife (Haley Bennett) with zero memories and a new cyborg body. But shortly thereafter, your wife is kidnapped by a telekinetic megalomaniac and you must battle his army of mercenaries to get her back.
This new trailer is fun enough, and I’m curious to see just how effective the movie-watching experience is or, rather, how close it is to watching someone play video games for two hours. Naishuller has been working on the concept for a while, and this film is actually an adaptation of his award-winning short film “Bad Motherfucker”, whose success led to the funding forHardcore.
Watch the trailer below and be sure to readour previous extended interview with Naishulleron how he executed the shooting of the film and much more. Look for Perri’s review from TIFF on Collider soon.
Here’s the official synopsis forHardcore:
You remember nothing. Mainly because you’ve just been brought back from the dead by your wife (Haley Bennett). She tells you that your name is Henry and congratulations, you’re now a cyborg.
5 minutes later, your wife has been kidnapped and you should probably go get her back. Who’s got her? His name’s Akan (Danila Kozlovsky), he’s just a psychotic megalomaniac with telekinetic powers, and a never-ending army of mercenaries. You’re also in an unfamiliar city of Moscow, Russia and everyone wants you dead. Everyone, except for a mysterious British fellow called Jimmy (Sharlto Copley). He might be on your side. Good luck Henry. You’re very much likely to need it.
