Stranger Things‘ Finn Wolfhard stars in the unsettling new trailer for The Turning, director Floria Sigismondi’s upcoming film adaptation of the 1898 Henry James novella, The Turn of the Screw.
The clip follows Mackenzie Davis as a nanny who lands an unfortunate gig: watching after two creepy kids (Wolfhard and Brooklynn Prince) on their sprawling Maine estate.
After their introductions, the imagery, naturally, grows more disturbing: ghost hands, spiders slithering into mouths, heavy breathing, horses galloping into ominous mists, Wolfhard clanging menacingly on a drum set. “I know what you’re afraid of,” the teenager says. “Keeping the lights on won’t keep you safe.”
Sigismondi (The Runaways, The Handmaid’s Tale) spoke to Entertainment Weekly about approaching a tale that’s been adapted numerous times over the years — including in the 1961 movie The Innocents.
“I studied what worked in that film, and the atmosphere it created, and how the house became a character, and what we saw and didn’t see,” she said. “I also loved how that film made it about the nanny and not just about the things that were happening in the house. So, I really drew upon those things, and modernized it, and made it my own.”
The Turning — which hits theaters January 24th — is the second major adaptation of James’ iconic novella to be announced of late. Netflix recently renewed horror-drama series The Haunting of Hill House for a second season as The Haunting of Bly Manor, also based on the book.
