The red band trailer for The New Girlfriend spins a sexy and dangerous thriller in the span of just over a minute. Stunning cinematography from Pascal Marti (Young & Beautiful and the “Place des Victoires” segment of Paris, Je T’aime) makes the trailer an immersive experience, with visuals so engrossing that it doesn’t really matter if it’s difficult to figure out exactly what’s going on in the trailer. The mystery is part of the allure. And the color red makes several appearances, because how would you know it’s a sexy film otherwise?
The French-language film comes from director François Ozon, who previously worked with Marti on Young & Beautiful and whose previous films Under The Sand (2000) and 8 Women (2002) were nominated for César Awards. The New Girlfriend is based loosely on a 1985 short story of the same name by British mystery writer Ruth Rendell, whose works inspired the films La Cérémonie (1995), Live Flesh (1997), and The Bridesmaid (2004). The New Girlfriend delves into the aftermath of the death of a young woman named Laura (Isild Le Besco), whose lifelong best friend Claire (Anais Demoustier) promises to watch over Laura’s daughter Lucie and her widowed husband David (Romain Duris). But David is harboring a secret.
The New Girlfriend premiered at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival and screened at the San Sebastián Film Festival last fall, where it won the Sebastiane Award, which recognizes films that reflect the values and reality of LGBT individuals. The film opened in France last year and will be released theatrically in the U.S. on September 18, 2015.