Director Jennifer Reeder’s horror film Perpetrator will be reaching select theatres on September 1st, the same day it will be available to watch through the Shudder streaming service – and today, a full trailer for the film has arrived online! You can watch it in the embed above.
Perpetrator is Reeder’s third collaboration with Shudder, as she previously contributed a segment to the horror anthology V/H/S/94 and directed the horror film Night’s End, both of which were released through Shudder.
Perpetrator has the following synopsis: Jonny Baptiste is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie. On her 18th birthday, she experiences a radical metamorphosis: a family spell that redefines her called Forevering. When several teen girls go missing at her new school, a mythically feral Jonny goes after the Perpetrator.
Jonny is played by Kiah McKirnan (Mare of Easttown). Christopher Lowell (My Best Friend’s Exorcism), Melanie Liburd (The Idol), and Ireon Roach (Candyman) are also in the cast, and Aunt Hildie is played by Alicia Silverstone (Clueless).
Perpetrator was produced by Gregory Chambet of WTFilms and Derek Bishé of Divide/Conquer. Trevor Groth and Sarah Hong of 30West served as executive producers with Adam Hendricks and Greg Gilreath of Divide/Conquer, Dimitri Stephanides of WTFilms, and Emily Gotto of Shudder.
The filmmakers say that the film is “inspired by the shared experience of generations of women,” as well as an “exploration of youthful chaos.” Reeder added: “This is a significant moment for women working in genre films. Women are very well suited for horror in particular — we have a personal relationship to fear from a very young age, and are able to bleed for days and not die. This film in particular takes on the myth of the out-of-control teen girl — the wild child. In this story, she has agency in her lawlessness and embraces her abject nature. Perpetrator is dark but feminine, a nuanced noir, a grrrl power take on modern horror.“
Chambet has said that the idea for this movie was to was to “walk in the footsteps of powerful female horror references such as Cat People, Carrie, and Jennifer’s Body.”
What did you think of the Perpetrator trailer? Does this look like a movie you’ll be watching in September? Let us know by leaving a comment below.