There are certain horror creators whose stamp of approval means that the project they’re endorsing—a film, a book, a TV show—is definitely not to be missed. Guillermo del Toro and Stephen King can launch a career with just a few kind words. But when an A-lister signs on to produce an emerging talent, you really want to sit up and take notice, especially when it’s two A-listers, and their names are Sam Raimi and Jordan Peele.
Neither of those guys needs any introduction, but combined they have critical acclaim and box-office bucks to spare, not to mention both being credited with helping to shape and reinvent the horror genre itself. So to hear they’re collaborating for the first time is very cool news and adds instant intrigue to the mysterious film they’re teaming up on. As Deadline reports, it’s called Portrait of God and is “a spec from emerging filmmaker Dylan Clark that expands on the world of his viral horror short of the same name.”
Co-written by Clark and Joe Russo (not that Joe Russo), the film will be based on Clark’s short, which you can watch below; it’s notched 8.6 million views on YouTube since August 2022.
The short runs just seven minutes and has an abbreviated plot—”A religious girl prepares a presentation about a painting titled Portrait of God. What she sees challenges her beliefs.” Deadline notes the feature’s story is being “kept under wraps,” but the short certainly gives a good idea of what the style and atmosphere will be like… as well as what drew Raimi and Peele to the project.
A haunted painting that produces a manifestation that might not be benevolent—and has a stirring effect on the young woman who’s dutifully preparing to share it with, presumably, an entire classroom of like-minded students? What happens next? What other powers does the painting possess? And what should we make of that Biblical warning at the beginning?
There’s a lot to explore in an expanded take on Portrait of God‘s story, and we’re excited to see the end result, with Raimi and Peele’s help to boot.
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