The Sundance Film Festival is in full swing, and with word of acquisitions and future Oscar contenders already blowing up, Radius TWC has unveiled a trailer for their Sundance entry, Blue Ruin. This chilling thriller boasts no stars, but some serious acclaim. Aside from the critical praise included in the above trailer, Blue Ruin made its world premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival, screening as part of the Directors’ Fortnight. It ultimately took home FIPRESCI International Critics Prize, and now its contending for Sundance attention.
Written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, Blue Ruin centers on Dwight, a haggard vagrant who has long been living on the fringe of society, harboring within himself a secret and dangerous plot. This plan is set into action when a certain man is released from prison, forcing Dwight to return to his hometown and enact an awful vengeance in hopes of protecting his estranged family from a terrible fate.
Saulnier made his reputation in film as a cinematographer, shooting features like Michael Tully's Septien, Steve Collins's You Hurt My Feelings, and Nate Meyer's See Girl Run. Notably, he also served as director of photography on Blue Ruin, giving the film a sharp and distinctively deranged look. In 2007, Saulnier made his feature directorial debut with a heralded horror-comedy called Murder Party that was selected for Slamdance, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.
As you can see from Murder Party's trailer, the prize-winning satire shares a leading man with Blue Ruin. That would be Saulnier's friend Macon Blair, who took on a ratty make-under to play Dwight. You can get a closer look at his curious new character in the film's shared stills and poster below:
Radius-TWC has already picked up Blue Ruin's distribution rights, so we expect news about its release date should be coming soon.
