Trailer for Tomas Alfredson’s ‘The Snowman’ is Quite Chilling

Don’t expect the likes of Frosty the Snowman or Olaf from Frozen in Tomas Alfredson’s The Snowman. In fact, the motif of his film’s antagonist would probably give a darker undertone to the song “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” Instead, what we get from the newly released trailer is, pardon the pun, extremely chilling and disturbing in its imagery. An adaptation of Jo Nesbo’s seventh Harry Hole novel, the film stars Michael Fassbender as the titular Hole, police officer with the Oslo Crime Squad. When called to investigate the disappearance and murder of a victim on the first snow of winter, Hole fears an elusive serial killer may be active again. The disturbing aspect of this killer: his decision to place a snowman at each scene of the crime. With the help of a brilliant recruit, played by Rebecca Ferguson, Hole must connect this murder to a series of older cases stretching back decades in order to stop the killer once and for all.

Just this description does little to emphasize the film’s inherent creep factor, as the trailer does a much better job at that. The combination of eerie music, isolated snowy settings and visual imagery, including one of a victim turned into a human snowman, are frankly messed up. Fassbender and Ferguson’s performances also add to the trailer’s tension and disturbing premise, as well as the minimal appearances of J.K. Simmon’s character. There’s something inherently sinister about using objects of innocence, such as snowmen, as a calling card and this trailer utilizes it quite well.

The Snowman is being developed by Working Title Films alongside Alfredson’s own Another Park Film. Originally, Martin Scorsese was hired to the direct the film back in 2013, but later stepped down and now serves as its executive producer. Production began in January of 2016, with Alfredson filming scenes in the Norwegian cities of Drammen, Oslo, and Bergen. Alfredson is known for directing Let the Right One In.

The Snowman is set for a theatrical release date of October 20, 2017. Watch the trailer below.