Trailer: American Psycho director’s Manson Family movie Charlie Says

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

A trailer has been released for AMERICAN PSYCHO director Mary Harron's Manson Family drama CHARLIE SAYS, which is one of several Manson-related films that are set to be released this year, the 50th anniversary of the murders committed by the group led by Charles Manson.

Manson himself is a presence in the trailer, which is embedded below. He's played by former Doctor Who star Matt Smith, but we don't get a great idea of what Smith's performance is like from his moments in the trailer. Manson isn't the primary focus of the film anyway, it's about certain women who were part of his "Family".

Written by AMERICAN PSYCHO screenwriter Guinevere Turner, CHARLIE SAYS is based on the books The Family by Ed Sanders and The Long Prison Journey of Leslie van Houten: Life Beyond the Cult by Karlene Faith. The film follows 

grad student Karlene Faith as she works with three brainwashed young women who were part of the Manson family — Leslie Van Houten, Patricia Krenwinkel and Susan Atkins. The story will be told via a series of flashbacks after the three women are incarcerated in a special security unit at the California Institute for Women.

The Walking Dead's Merritt Wever stars as Faith, and she is joined in the cast by Hannah Murray as Leslie Van Houten, Sosie Bacon as Patricia Krenwinkel, Marianne Rendon as Susan Atkins, Chace Crawford as Tex Watson, Suki Waterhouse as Mary Brunner, Grace Van Dien as Sharon Tate, Kayli Carter as Squeaky Fromme, India Ennenga as Linda Kasabian, and Annabeth Gish as Virginia Carlson, head of the California Institute for Women. Odessa Young and Carla Gugino were also announced as being part of the cast, but it's not clear if they're in the finished film.

Produced by Dana Guerin, Cindi Rice, John Frank Rosenblum, and Jeremy Rosen, with David Hillary, Ed Sanders, and Michael Guerin executive producing, CHARLIE SAYS is getting a limited theatrical release courtesy of IFC Films on May 10th. A national roll-out will follow.

Check out the trailer for CHARLIE SAYS and see if this one looks interesting to you: