Pilot Trailer for Swedish Psychological Horror ‘Marianne’
by Marc Patterson
I had recently been talking to Swedish filmmaker Filip Tegstedt about completely unrelated business when I caught the screener for his upcoming film Marianne. I had already caught a glimpse of some preliminary artwork, which I won’t share here since I don’t have his blessing, but did reach out to find out more regarding this rather cool looking pilot trailer.
Filip tells us: None of the footage in the clip online will be in the final film. It’s basically just a test reel, to show off the characters in their environments, and it was made to go with a screenplay so I could show investors and potential business partners. Especially local businesses. That’s why, if you look at the exterior shots, they’re very much designed to show off the environments more than the characters, and it’s why the pilot doesn’t say anything about the actual story.
With all good hopes he intends to begin actual production this spring. The official synopsis as sent to us from Filip: “Marianne is a psychological horror film about a broken family in the small isolated town of Östersund, located up in the Swedish northlands. Among the pine woods, the lakes, the snowy mountains and the midnight summer sun, the story takes place on the fuzzy border where fantasy and reality meet.
45 year old Krister’s wife Eva has just passed away in a car accident, and now he’s alone with the 18 year old daughter Sandra who hates his guts, and a 6 months old daughter who he doesn’t really know how to take care of. At night he’s haunted by bad nightmares about what happened the night Eva died, and guilt for the pain he’s caused Sandra over the years as an absent father. He experiences visits in his sleep from a woman dressed in green, looking for revenge. Someone who comes to him via his dreams. Someone he knows already is dead.
Sandra’s boyfriend, who’s interested in old Swedish folklore, soon realizes Krister is haunted by a Mare – a female creature of the night or a woman possessed. He tries to guide Krister by helping him get rid of her, while Krister tries to regain his family and reestablish some sort of order in his life. But having a bad reputation in a small town makes it hard to regain the trust of someone you’ve let down so many times before. Krister finds himself in a jungle of guilt and anxiety, superstition and nightmares, mental and physical illness, and has to find the best way out. Is the Mare real, or only in his mind?
I have to admit – I was impressed with the trailer. I enjoyed the characters in there. We’re obviously going to be keeping in touch with Filip and bring you news on this film as it develops. In the meantime, take a look at the teaser pilot trailer and leave your thoughts:
MARIANNE Pilot – Swedish DSLR Indie Feature horror film from Java ex Machina on Vimeo.
