The first official trailer for American Horror Story: Double Feature has finally dropped and fans have been treated to their first look at the horror ahead. After a two-year wait, the tenth season of the show is just around the corner and up until this point, only a few small hints about the plot have been revealed.
While not revealing anything too spoiler-heavy, the trailer teases a lot about what to expect from the first half of the season (subtitled Red Tide). With lots of returning familiar faces and a few new ones too, the trailer showcases a lot to get excited about.
Lily Rabe And Finn Wittrock Are Playing A Couple
While Lily Rabe and Finn Wittrock are both regular cast members of American Horror Story, they haven't interacted too much in past seasons. However, the Red Tide trailer shows that they will be playing a couple, Doris and Harry, this time around.
Just from their few moments in the trailer, it's exciting to see them working so closely together. Doris seems apprehensive about the family's move to Provincetown while Harry seems to embrace its darker side. Doris is also pregnant and judging from past seasons of the show, it's unlikely it'll be just any regular pregnancy.
Finn Wittrock's Character Is A Writer
Harry and Doris seem to have moved to Provincetown as the former is suffering from writer's block. This particular plot point seems like a clear homage to The Shining, especially as Harry's behavior grows more and more extreme as the trailer goes on.
It also appears that Frances Conroy and Evan Peters' characters, Belle and Austin respectively, are going to have a dark influence on the writer, promising him that he won't lack inspiration for long now that he's moved to Provincetown. Austin also seems to be a writer of sorts, which suggests creativity and inspiration will be important themes for the season.
Finn Wittrock and Lily Rabe's Character Have A Daughter Together
American Horror Story newcomer Ryan Kiera Armstrong plays the role of Doris and Harry's daughter, Alma,
and she has a lot of key moments in the trailer. Children don't exactly have a good track record on the show (The Countess' brood in Hotel being a prime example) and it seems that Alma won't be any different if her ominous looks to camera are anything to go by. Alma is also shown playing the violin in a rather aggressive manner right before an image of a woman dripping with blood is revealed. Is the young girl's musical talent perhaps linked to the violence unfolding around her?
The Black Pills
It appears that Belle and Austin are linked to "The Chemist" played by Angelica Ross. In the trailer, Harry is seen meeting with Belle and Austin as The Chemist looks on with drink in hand. The Chemist is then seen in some kind of laboratory experimenting with black pills. It seems like the pills will somehow be linked to Harry's sudden inspiration and perhaps even Alma's musical talent.
After Ross played one of the most intelligent characters in AHS: 1984, it's not surprising to see her in this type of role. It's especially telling that the shots of the black pills are preceded with a line from Belle, "Success is addictive... you've tasted it now; you're never going to be able to live without it." So, could these pills be performance-enhancing drugs? Are they the reason for Harry's newfound "success?"
Things Are Beginning To Wash Up On Shore
Location is always key in a season of American Horror Story and it looks like season 10 will be no different. Even from the trailer, it seems obvious that the sea will play a key part in Red Tide. The eerie shots of the waves coupled with foreboding music hint at something inhuman washing up onto the shore.
Throughout the trailer, the viewers get brief glimpses at tall, pale creatures stalking the town and it seems likely they originated from the sea. What the creatures want or how they came to remain unclear, but it's obvious they pose a huge threat. Also, there is a quick shot of Dennis O'Hare walking along the beach and discovering a dismembered hand and foot... so it might not just be the creatures that are washing up.
Sarah Paulson Is Back And She Looks Almost Unrecognizable
The trailer gives fans a look at many familiar faces, some who haven't been seen on the show for a while. However, Sarah Paulson's appearance in the trailer is perhaps the most surprising. Paulson's TB Karen is shabbily dressed and has messy pink hair, a pale face, and huge wide eyes.
Paulson has played some of the best female characters in American Horror Story so it's a treat to see her back and looking so different from her other appearances on the show. The trailer also suggests that TB Karen has a strong connection to Macaulay Culkin's character, Mickey, who also dons a similar attire.
"It Takes Pain To Make Beautiful Things."
Alma creepily utters the words "It takes pain to make beautiful things," which further strengthens the suggestion that her character isn't an innocent bystander to the ensuing chaos.
Many of the other characters seem to agree with Alma's statement, though, as the trailer is full of blood and violence. Shots of Belle slashing an unseen person with a switchblade, Harry shooting a gun while soaked in blood, and TB Karen also covered in blood suggest that this may be one of the most violent seasons yet — and American Horror Story has seen some bloody deaths. These shots also suggest that it won't just be the creatures posing a threat this time around; there's a strong sense that many of the characters are not be trusted.
The Cinematography
One huge element of the trailer that can't go undiscussed is the cinematography. Compared to the vibrant colors of season 9, the cinematography here seems a lot darker and moodier, just like it was in the earlier seasons.
The panning shots of the beach are breathtaking and the out-of-focus shots of the pale creatures are genuinely creepy. In the earlier seasons of the show, some of the locations felt like actual characters (Murder House, Briarcliff, and The Hotel Cortez, in particular), so it's great to see a fresh and unique setting this time around. The location feels like it's going to play a huge part in the story rather than just being a pretty backdrop; the directors really seem to have used being on set in Provincetown to the show's advantage.
Are The Vampires Back?
All the way back in Hotel, many of the characters were infected by an ancient blood curse that caused them to develop vampiric tendencies, and there are some hints that something similar may be happening in Red Tide. At one point in the trailer, Doris cuts her finger and starts to bleed; Harry then looks over and is transfixed as the blood begins to drip. There's also a shot of TB Karen walking along the beach with her mouth covered in blood and Billie Lourd's character, Lark, is seen sharpening Harry's teeth.
Of course, it may be possible that the black pills give people a thirst for blood rather than the curse from Hotel making a comeback. That being said, the American Horror Story seasons are all connected, so this may suggest a Hotel tie-in for this half of season 10.
The Main Cast And Potential Title Sequence
While most of the cast had already been revealed, the end of the trailer gives confirmation of which actors will be main cast members in the first half of the season. Wittrock, Rabe, Armstrong, Conroy, Peters, Paulson, Lourd, Ross, Culkin, and Leslie Grossman's names are all shown at the end of the trailer in the iconic American Horror Story font.
Although the opening titles for the season haven't dropped yet, this suggests these will be the names present as the famous American Horror Story theme tune plays. It's particularly interesting to see Armstrong on this list as a child actor has never been part of the main cast before, which suggests she will have a huge part to play in the story.