Trailer Blitz: Tornado, Steppenwolf, Ponyboi, Juliet & Romeo, Trail of Vengeance, A Breed Apart, and More
It’s that time again—Welcome to Trailer Blitz!
We’re always on the lookout for the latest trailers for films hitting both theaters and streaming, but every now and then, one manages to sneak past us. Well, not anymore! It’s time for a quick clean-up. So here’s a wrap-up on the latest trailers we missed the first time around. Take a scroll and enjoy fresh glimpses of what’s coming your way in the next few months.
“Tornado” Trailers: Kōki Wields a Samurai Sword and Seeks Revenge in ‘Slow West’ Director John Maclean's New Gritty East-Meets-West Western Thriller with Tim Roth — In Theaters May 30th
Scottish filmmaker John Maclean broke into the film scene in a big way with his 2015 Sundance-winning western Slow West, starring Michael Fassbender as a stoic, hardened bounty hunter who becomes the reluctant guide of a young Scottish man looking for his lost love. Maclean earned strong accolades for his poetic, darkly comic revisionist take on the frontier myth and Western archetypes. Ten years later, Maclean’s back with his second feature film, and this time, it’s another western thriller—but with a new bent, as he’s throwing a bit of Eastern mythology into the mix.
In Tornado, a gritty East-meets-West revenge tale that looks anything but traditional, Maclean centers the story around a young Japanese woman named Tornado, who is part of a traveling puppet show setting up shop in 1790s Britain. When a gang of ruthless English thieves—led by the iconic Tim Roth, always superb at playing despicable men (think Rob Roy, The Hateful Eight, The Incredible Hulk)—ambushes Tornado’s small village of sideshow performers, they kill her former Samurai father in the process. Tornado vows revenge. Picking up her father’s Samurai sword and tapping into the lethal skills he taught her, Tornado takes matters into her own hands as she sets out to rewrite her fate and kill the gang that murdered her father.
Rising Japanese model/songwriter/actress Kōki stars as Tornado in this revenge thriller that seems to be paying homage to classic Japanese films like Lady Snowblood, Yojimbo, and Harakiri, but with the veneer of something like the 1970s female revenge Spaghetti-Western classic Hannie Caulder. With Maclean at the helm, one can only expect moody landscapes, sharp swordplay, vicious violence, and a whole lot of grit and moxie.
Tornado also stars Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Takeiro Hira (Shogun), Rory McCann (Game of Thrones), and Douglas Russell (Adolescence), and it’s set to open in U.S. theaters on May 30th, via IFC Films.
“Steppenwolf” Trailer: A Nihilistic Detective Faces Masked Mercenaries and Moral Ambiguity in This Hyper-Violent Cult Thriller From Russian-Kazakh Filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov — Blu-ray Release via Arrow Video on May 26th
There’s a notion out there that foreign movies are a little hoity-toity – you know, pretentious as hell. But not the foreign films we love. We seek out the ones that lean heavily into cult status, the ones that sit on the fringes and aren’t afraid to dive into darkness and show a little violence. Well, if you're anything like us, then this might spark some interest as it certainly sparked ours: Steppenwolf is a hyper-violent dark thriller from Russian-Kazakh filmmaker Adilkhan Yerzhanov, and it seemingly leans hard into everything we love—grit, violence, style, and a lead character with enough moral ambiguity to make even the most tortured noir antihero look well-adjusted.
The film, saturated with a grim and bold aesthetic, tells the unlikely redemption story of a nihilistic detective hired by a desperate mother to find her missing son. That search turns into an all-out war against masked mercenaries and outlaws in a crumbling town run by the absolute worst of humanity. Think Mad Max by way of Once Upon a Time in the East—it’s bleak, brutal, and visually mesmerizing, if this trailer is any indication.
Starring Berik Aitzhanov and Anna Starchenko, and produced by acclaimed Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky, known for backing Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Oscar-nominated films Leviathan and Loveless, Steppenwolf made its debut at Fantasia Film Festival last year, quietly earning praise from critics. Now, thanks to the good folks at Arrow Video, it’s getting the Blu-ray treatment it deserves.
Look for it May 26th in a limited edition release across the US, UK, and Canada—or snag it digitally on Apple TV.
If you like your thrillers weird, wild, and dripping in cult potential, this just might be the film for you.
“Ponyboi” Trailer: Newcomer River Gallo Stars as an Intersex Sex Worker in This New Gritty, Stylized Crime Thriller with Dylan O'Brien — In Theaters June 27.
It seems last year’s release of Rose Glass’s Love Lies Bleeding, a gritty crime thriller featuring Kristen Stewart and Katy O'Brian as two lovers on a collision course of sex, crime, and violence, might have kicked the doors wide open for more LGBTQ-themed narratives that aren’t as typical as what we've seen before. In a way, it might have left an opening for something like Ponyboi to float through and capture the indie film community by storm.
Starring Dylan O'Brien and newcomer River Gallo, Ponyboi debuted earlier this year at Sundance and quickly became one of the most talked-about films of the festival. Directed by Esteban Arango (Blast Beat), working from a screenplay penned by Gallo based on their 2019 short film of the same name, Ponyboi is a highly stylized crime thriller that pushes the boundaries of what we think of in LGBTQ representation. The film centers on a young intersex sex worker named Ponyboi, played by Gallo. Dylan O'Brien plays Vinnie, Ponyboi’s New Jersey pimp and secret lover.
The film delves into Ponyboi’s struggle to survive in the gritty world of prostitution, where drugs are aplenty, the mob is a constant threat, and one’s self-worth is often measured by the wrong things—such as physical appearance and the approval of others. Amid the dangers and exploitation of the streets, Ponyboi seeks to find meaning, love, and acceptance while grappling with their identity and sometimes the poisonous relationships that form within such a stark reality.
If cinema is meant to shine a light on the less explored and sometimes marginalized corners of our society, no matter how much it strays from our perception of what we think is “normal,” then Ponyboi is surely fitting the bill.
Also starring Victoria Pedretti (The Haunting of Bly Manor), Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus, The Last of Us), and Indya Moore (Pose), Ponyboi will be coming to theaters June 27th.
“Juliet & Romeo” Trailer: A Pop Musical Take on Shakespeare’s Tragic Love Story with Songs by Grammy-Winner E. Kidd Bogart, Starring Clara Rugaard and Jamie Ward with Rebel Wilson — Opens In Theaters May 9th
Okay, it seems Shakespeare’s classic tragic love story Romeo and Juliet always gets reinvented for a new generation, each with its own iteration of the star-crossed lovers from opposite rival clans. Whether it’s set in modern-day Verona, as in Baz Luhrmann’s iconic 1996 Romeo + Juliet, or simply translated into a more traditional setting like Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 classic, or even reimagined for the stage in the musical West Side Story, the core of the story remains the same and timeless—two young people from feuding families doomed by fate, love, and the chaos around them.
Now enter: Juliet & Romeo, a new upcoming musical set in 1301 at the end of Medieval times, but featuring modern-sounding pop songs originally created by Grammy-winning pop music producer-songwriter E. (Evan) Kidd Bogart, known for hits like Beyoncé's Halo, Rihanna's SOS, and many more.
Written and directed by E. Kidd’s older brother, Timothy Scott Bogart, who previously made the 2023 musical biopic Spinning Gold about their father, Neil Bogart, and how he founded the popular 1970s disco label Casablanca Records, Juliet & Romeo takes the classic Shakespeare tale and remixes it with modern pop music. The bard has never sounded so … iHeart Radio-y?
“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? Wait, is that a drum machine, I hear?”
It’s a fresh, pop-driven take on a familiar story that we’re sure will resonate with a whole new generation of audiences.
Danish singer-actress Clara Rugaard (Black Mirror: Mazey Day) and Australian actor Jamie Ward (HBO's His Dark Materials) take on the roles of Juliet and Romeo.
Rounding out the cast are Rebel Wilson, Jason Isaacs, Dan Fogler, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Derek Jacobi, and Rupert Everett.
Juliet & Romeo is coming to theaters on May 9th.
“Trail of Vengeance” Trailer: Rumer Willis Takes Justice into Her Own Hands in This Gritty Western Revenge Thriller with Gbenga Akinnagbe, Jeff Fahey, and Graham Greene — In Theaters and VOD May 23rd
Rumer Willis might be following her father’s footsteps as she picks up a loaded pistol to exact a little vengeance in this new shoot-em-up Western thriller about a woman blazing a trail of gun smoke and dust as she hunts down the gang who killed her beloved husband.
Directed by filmmaker Johnny Remo (God's Country Song, Like a Country Song), Trail of Vengeance is exactly what you might expect: a revenge tale where outlaws kill with impunity, and good people are shot down like dogs. It’s a cruel world. And sometimes, it takes a woman with nothing left to lose to bring justice to those who believe they can kill without consequences.
No matter what you think of Rumer Willis (we liked her enough in The House Bunny), it seems she might surprise us with this one. Call us crazy, call us loco, but the trailer doesn’t look half bad. Jumpin’ jackrabbits! Hot diggity damn! We never thought we would see the day that we might actually be excited to see a Rumer Willis movie. But here we are, we must just be drunker than a skunk!
In all honesty, Rumer is backed by a stellar cast of character actors that have really gotten us excited: Gbenga Akinnagbe (The Old Man, The Thicket), Jeff Fahey (Planet Terror, Lost), Graham Greene (Dances with Wolves, Wind River), and James Landry Hebert (1883). All these actors bring a level of gravitas that will undoubtedly elevate the stakes, and hopefully the material as well. They just might be worth the price of admission.
Trail of Vengeance is being released in theaters and on VOD May 23rd.
So prepare for a wild, gun-slinging ride where six shooters are the only currency that matters, and revenge is best served cold with a side of bullets and blood.
“A Breed Apart” Trailer: Social Media Influencers, Wild Dogs, and a Fight for Survival in This Campy Horror Thriller, Starring Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner, and Hayden Panettiere — In Theaters and VOD May 16th
Imagine Mr. Beast, but stuck on an island with a bunch of Cujos! Now, that would certainly be something that would finally wipe that smirk off his face. But alas, it’s only an idea of what you’ll get with A Breed Apart, a campy horror thriller that throws a group of social media influencers onto an abandoned, remote island with a terrifying twist.
The island, once the site of a tragic movie shoot where members of the crew were mysteriously slaughtered, is now overrun by wild dogs. The influencers, eager to cash in on their popularity, are there for a social media contest—whoever can wrangle and rescue the most wild dogs wins the entire island for themselves. But there's a catch: these aren’t your average stray dogs. They’re feral, bloodthirsty four-legged monsters with a taste for human flesh. Soon, the influencers find themselves not just fighting for clout, but fighting to survive. It's a battle for their lives, and the only thing they’ll be losing faster than followers is their heads. Chomp!
Inspired by the cult 2006 canine horror pic The Breed, the film stars Grace Caroline Currey (Fall, Shazam), Virginia Gardner (Fall, Marvel's Runaways), and Hayden Panettiere (Scream, Nashville), and it’s written and directed by brothers, Griff and Nathan Furst, known for camp-horror flicks like Nightmare Shark and Trailer Park Shark.
A Breed Apart is coming to theaters and VOD/Digital on May 16th.
⇩ Additional Trailers:
“I'm Beginning to See the Light” Trailer: Jack Huston Battles Grief and Isolation in This Moody Thriller About Secrets and Redemption — On VOD May 2nd
After a tragic accident shatters his world, former jazz trumpeter Ezra (played by Jack Huston) retreats to a remote lighthouse to escape the noise of life. But when two unexpected visitors arrive with secrets of their own, his quiet isolation is thrown into chaos. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Brandon T. Jackson, Jamie Chung, Lucy Punch, and Mark Boone Junior and directed by Konstantin Khudyakov, I'm Beginning to See the Light is a moody, slow-burn thriller about grief, redemption, and whether some lights are better left off —out on VOD May 2.
“The Moogai” Trailer: An Aboriginal Couple Faces Supernatural Terror and Maternal Paranoia in This Australian Psychological Horror — In Theaters and VOD May 9th
In this Australian supernatural horror, what begins as a joyful chapter for Sarah and Fergus—an Aboriginal couple welcoming their second child—quickly unravels into a nightmare. Sarah (Aboriginal actress Shari Sebbens) becomes haunted by visions of a dark presence she believes is trying to steal her baby, while Fergus (Aboriginal actor Meyne Wyatt), unable to see it himself, struggles to hold their family together as doubt and fear take root. Written and directed by Jon Bell and costarring Toby Leonard Moore and Bella Heathcote, this chilling psychological horror blurs the line between ancestral trauma and maternal paranoia. Hitting theaters and VOD on May 9th, The Moogai asks: is the monster real… or something far more personal?
“Last Bullet” Trailer: Alban Lenoir Returns in the Explosive Finale of the Lost Bullet Trilogy — A High-Speed French Revenge Thriller on Netflix May 7th
The engine’s running, and Lino’s not slowing down. In Last Bullet, the explosive finale to the Lost Bullet trilogy, French actor Alban Lenoir returns as the unstoppable gearhead, fresh out of prison and hell-bent on taking down Areski (Nicolas Duvauchelle) and the corrupt commander who shattered his life. With deadly chases, uneasy alliances, and enough horsepower to level a city block, this high-octane revenge thriller from director Guillaume Pierret hits Netflix on May 7—so, buckle up!
“My Robot Sophia” Trailer: A Fascinating Documentary on the Quest to Teach the World’s Most Famous Humanoid Robot How to Feel — Available on Digital and On Demand May 6th
Directed by Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle, My Robot Sophia follows inventor and former Google engineer David Hanson as he tries to teach the world’s most famous humanoid robot how to feel. This new documentary explores Hanson’s obsession with making Sophia more than just lifelike—it’s about giving her a soul. Available on Digital and On Demand May 6th, it’s a fascinating, uncanny dive into the blurry line between human and machine.
“Vulcanizadora” Trailer: Cult Indie Filmmaker Joel Potrykus (Buzzard) Returns with a Darkly Absurd Comedy About Strange Obsession and Even Stranger Friendships — In NY Theaters May 2nd
Indie filmmaker Joel Potrykus (Buzzard) is back with Vulcanizadora, a pitch-black indie comedy about obsession, failure, and the strange rituals we create to feel something—anything. Starring Joshua Burge and Potrykus himself, the film follows two friends wandering through a Michigan forest to fulfill a disturbing pact. But when things go sideways (and fast), the fallout festers like an open wound. Winner at Fantasia and Tribeca, Vulcanizadora hits New York theaters May 2nd—and it’s as bleak, weird, and it just might be hypnotically funny as we’d hope.
“Swamp Dogg” Trailer: Meet the Soul Genius Time Forgot in This Wild and Offbeat Documentary About R&B’s Most Unconventional Icon — In Theaters May 2nd
Who is Swamp Dogg? This new documentary sets out to answer that question—and trust us, it’s one wild, soulful ride. Often hailed as “the soul genius time forgot,” Swamp Dogg is a true musical outsider: a cult R&B icon with a rock edge, a flair for the bizarre, and a knack for turning his suburban LA home into a full-blown creative universe. Featuring rare archival footage and unforgettable appearances by Moogstar, Guitar Shorty, Mike Judge, and Johnny Knoxville, this doc is equal parts hilarious, heartfelt, and just as offbeat as the man himself. Directed by Isaac Gale and Ryan Olson, Swamp Dogg hits theaters May 2nd—don’t miss your chance to meet a legend.