Creepy trailer for Ben Wheatley's pandemic horror movie hits different in the COVID era

As if you're not experiencing enough quarantine panic already, the first trailer for Ben Wheatley's new pandemic-themed horror movie is here to rattle your bones even more.

Neon has unveiled the debut teaser for the Free Fire and Rebecca director's upcoming movie In the Earth, which follows a scientist and a park scout who venture deep into a foreboding forest on a routine equipment run as the world around them succumbs to a deadly virus. Along their journey, however, the pair encounter strange happenings as the foliage around them seemingly comes to life with sinister intentions.

"I wanted to make a film that was contextualized in the moment. Movies I was seeing that had been made but released during the pandemic felt very old-fashioned. No one is talking about what has just happened. COVID is going to mark a generation," Wheatley said of the film, which he wrote just after he entered lockdown in Britain at the top of 2020. "In that retrospect, I wanted to make something that would be immediate. To talk about this moment. I wanted to make something about the experience I was having right now. And I think that is what horror cinema should be. It takes the moment that we are living in and puts it into a genre."

Shot across 15 days last year, In the Earth stars Game of Thrones actor Joel Fry, Hayley Squires (I, Daniel Blake), Reece Shearsmith (The League of Gentlemen), and Ellora Torchia (The Split).

The film received positive reviews following its debut at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in January, with critics particularly praising Wheatley's atmospheric visuals and the story's grim, timely tone.

Neon will release In the Earth to theaters on April 16. Watch the first trailer above.

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