Feast your eyes on the trailer for “The Dreadful” – a new Gothic horror coming from director Natasha Kermani. It’s reuniting “Game of Thrones” stars Sophie Turner and Kit Harington, who are joined by Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden in this gripping tale.
The film grapples with the interpersonal power dynamics of the trio of characters. Tuner plays Anne, the film’s lead, who according to Kermani:
“Anne, the film’s lead character, is someone struggling to reconcile longing and fear—to truly see the people around her rather than remain anchored to the safety of childhood nostalgia. Over the course of the story, she comes to realize that the people she holds closest are not who she believed them to be. The events of the film mark a rupture for Anne, a moment of reckoning that forces her into awareness. In that sense, the film is ultimately about awakening.”
She’s will be at odds with the pressures exerted by Gay Harden who, as you’ll see in the trailer, abides by her own set of rules. While centering a film around a relationship with a mother-in-law might immediately make some jump to the most frightening end of the horror spectrum, this film seeks to explore the gradations of complexity between them.
“This is a deeply personal project and a script I’ve been developing for many years. It was loosely inspired by a Shinto-Buddhist Noh theatre tale about an older woman who attempts to frighten her daughter-in-law into submission—most famously adapted by Kaneto Shindo in his 1964 masterpiece ‘Onibaba.’ I became fascinated by the archetypal triangle at the center of that story—the young woman, the mother-in-law, and the young man—and by the shifting power dynamics between them.
Again and again, I return to the idea that power lies in the stories we tell and the mythologies we build to justify survival. What does “right” and “wrong” mean to people living in dark times, when fear and desire are often indistinguishable? These questions sit at the core of the film.”
Though sporting Japanese influences the film is very physically rooted in England. The film was shot on location in Cornwall. Kermani’s producing partner, Tim Wu, emphasized the importance the physicality of the locations played to them.
“Filming on location in Cornwall was always a priority for us – there’s nothing like actually being on the edge of these 600ft tall cliffs or being amongst architecture that’s literally centuries old. It’s an atmosphere we could never have captured on a volume or soundstage. Natasha and I actually first scouted Cornwall for this film all the way back in 2017 after our first film, ‘Imitation Girl,’ played at Frightfest in London, so this has been a long time coming, to say the least. To be able to end up doing this with Sophie, Kit, and Marcia though was worth the wait!”
Kermani and Wu have been collaborators for years. They are founders (along with Pete Azen and “The Dreadful” co-producer James Herron) of the production company Illium Pictures and have worked on features like last year’s “Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story” (a vampire horror film based on the short story by Joe Hill), and the Shudder original film, “Lucky.”
Their longstanding working dynamic allowed them to realize their vision even with some pretty intense constraints. Kermani informed us that:
“Working within an extremely tight budget and an 18-day shooting schedule required precision and intention. Every design choice, performance, and location had to serve the film’s gothic folktale atmosphere. We even developed a unique accent with a dialect coach to further ground the characters within this imagined world. Post-production was completed entirely in Los Angeles, culminating in an original score by rising English composer Jamal Green, whose music deepened the film’s emotional and mythic resonance. This film has been a long journey. I’m grateful to everyone who helped bring it into being, and I’m deeply happy to finally share it with audiences.”
More about “The Dreadful”
Set in medieval England, Anne (Turner) and her domineering mother-in-law Morwen (Gay Harden) struggle to survive on the outskirts of society. But when a man (Harrington) from Anne’s past returns from war, a curse begins to take shape through a mysterious knight and threatens to destroy them all.
“The Dreadful” is in theaters, On Demand, and On Digital on February 20th, 2026.
