The outside world is a dangerous place in the sci-fi thriller/horror Freaks

Freaks is the upcoming sci-fi thriller/horror from the writing and directing pairing of Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein (Kim Possible). It’s been doing the rounds at film festivals around the world for the last few months, racking up a number of wins and nominations in the process, and has just been picked up for distribution in the US.

Lexy Kolker (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Shooter) stars as Chloe, a young girl who’s forced to live inside a ramshackle home with her paranoid father (Emile Hirsch – Into the Wild, Speed Racer), and without any contact with the outside world. Isolated and alone she yearns to see more of the world outside her home, and when the opportunity arises to do just that she grabs it. But what she discovers is that the world is a very different, and dangerous, place for her.

The plot synopsis is as follows:

Shot through with paranoia and claustrophobia, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s genre-bending Freaks focuses on seven-year-old Chloe (Lexy Kolker) and her constantly distraught father (Emile Hirsch). Isolated and desperate to get outside and experience life beyond the crumbling walls of their dilapidated house, Chloe finally makes a break for it when her sleep-deprived father drifts off. But the outside world isn’t all she envisioned.

The fierce light is disorienting, almost nauseating, and the neighbours, whom Chloe has been hearing about for years, are creepily bland. She’s immediately met by a twitchy, oddly familiar ice-cream salesman (Bruce Dern) who gives off the wrong kind of vibes but entices Chloe onto his truck. He speeds off to the park and en route she’s introduced to a strange world, haunted by the threat of freaks who look like us but are markedly different — and likely dangerous.

Let’s take a look:

As the joke goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you – that’s the impression I’m left with after watching this trailer. Hirsch and Kolker both look like they’re delivering great performances as the paranoid father and increasingly-rebellious daughter respectively, and her journey into the world looks fraught with tension and danger. There’s clearly a lot going on here, and the trailer reveals very little, but it’s definitely left me wanting to know more.

What do you think?

Freaks is due for release in the US on 23 August. It also stars Bruce Dern, Grace Park, and Amanda Crew.

Last Updated: May 22, 2019