First Trailer for Horror ‘Handling the Undead’ Featuring Renate Reinsve

First Trailer for Horror ‘Handling the Undead’ Featuring Renate Reinsve

by Alex Billington
December 6, 2023
Source: YouTube

“I love you whether you like it or not.” Neon has unveiled the first official trailer for the indie horror thriller from Norway titled Handling the Undead, marking the first narrative feature from Norwegian filmmaker Thea Hvistendahl. It was also announced today as part of the 2024 Sundance Film Festival line-up in the World Cinema Competition section. This dramatic horror-thriller takes place on a hot summer day in Oslo. The newly dead mysteriously awaken, and three families are thrown into chaos when their deceased loved ones come back to them. Who are they, and what do they want? What does this resurrection mean and are their loved ones back? (Probably not, but that’s part of the mystery…) Adapted from the novel by the same writer who wrote the Let the Right One In book. Starring Renate Reinsve (from The Worst Person in the World), Bjørn Sundquist, Bente Børsum, Anders Danielsen Lie, Bahar Pars, and Inesa Dauksta. Yes this is high on my list of most anticipated films in 2024, and especially at Sundance – I’ll be making this one a priority to catch there. Looking good so far with this footage, a fresh new take on zombies and undead.

Here’s the first look trailer (+ poster) for Thea Hvistendahl’s Handling the Undead, from YouTube:

Intro via Sundance: “Reuniting Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World), Handling the Undead is a visually expansive experience, full of arresting images and subtle performances that collapse the space between the living and the dead. Director Thea Hvistendahl’s steady directorial hand leaves her characters room to breathe, to mediate moral gray area, letting the minutiae of grief lead them as they feel their way through an extraordinary circumstance. Hvistendahl’s interpretation of Lindqvist’s novel addresses daunting questions about the body, the soul, loss, and moving on, pushing viewers to get to the root of reanimation: What would you do, and how would you feel, if someone you loved returned?” Chilling.

Handling the Undead, originally known as Håndtering av Udøde in Norwegian, is directed by Norwegian filmmaker Thea Hvistendahl, making her narrative feature debut following the doc The Monkey and the Mouth and many short films previously. The screenplay is by John Ajvide Lindqvist and Thea Hvistendahl, adapted from the book of the same name by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Produced by Kristin Emblem and Guri Neby. This is set to premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in their World Cinema Dramatic Comp section. Neon will debut Hvistendahl’s Handling the Undead in US theaters sometime in 2024 – stay tuned.

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