The first trailer for Alan Moore and Mitch Jenkins' new film The Show has been released by Lex Records, and it holds back none of its oddity. Moore, legend of the comics industry and notoriously cantankerous artist, opted this time to simply write his first film (based on a series of short films he worked on) instead of letting someone adapt his graphic novels.
The film will follow Tom Burke as Fletcher Dennis, a "frighteningly focused man of many talents, passports, and identities," per the official synopsis. The Show chronicles Fletcher's undisclosed mission looking for a mysterious MacGuffin in a shoddy, eclectic, bizarro-nightmare version of Northampton and then the even more dangerous and trippy literal dream world that Fletcher slips into when night falls. The Show promises to be another strange work from Moore, who only just last year retired from the comics industry. Now, people get a taste of what to expect from his latest.
Lex Records officially released the first look trailer for The Show on their YouTube channel. Watch it in the space below:
There's quite a lot to unpack here. Firstly, seeing Moore himself acting in the film is bizarre but not unwelcome. There's not much in the way of plot revealed by this trailer, in fact there's really not much going on at all. The shots are quick, there's almost no dialogue, and there's not much action either. What there are a lot of are dutch angles and funky costumes, suggesting Moore and Jenkins had themselves a time piecing together this very unusual world. The only credits to Mitch Jenkins' name are, interestingly enough, the short films that precede this upcoming film. The cast, however, besides Tom Moore of course, are not so inexperienced. Tom Burke in particular has had a good run of British television, and will portray Orson Welles in David Fincher's rapidly approaching film, Mank.
This is only the first look trailer, and the relative inexperience at the creative head of this film probably shouldn't scare off potential viewers. Moore has enough power behind his name, especially with his reputation for criticizing film and TV adaptations of his own work, to do the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing. His personality quirks, particularly regarding his relative nihilism and bizarre religious beliefs, creeped into his later work with mixed results, and The Show trailer appears to be following suit. Clowns and clapping, Moore basically dressed as a tarot card, waxing poetic about dreams, it's all there and it suggests this film will be either a Kaufman-esque artistic head trip, or just a headache. It was an official selection for both SXSW and Sitges, so hopefully it hits the former category.
Source: Lex Records