‘Colonia’ Trailer: Emma Watson Tries to Save Her Boyfriend From a Cult

Emma Watson has not one, but two upcoming films in which she’s faced with cultish activity. There’s Alejandro Amenabar’s Regression, co-starring Ethan Hawke and hitting theaters this fall, and Colonia, co-starring Daniel Bruhl, which doesn’t yet have a release date, but you can watch the first trailer which arrived today.

In Colonia, Watson plays a young woman whose boyfriend (Bruhl) is abducted by General Augusto Pinochet’s secret Chilean police in 1973 and sent to a cult known as the Colonia Dignidad. Watson must infiltrate the cult if she has any hope of rescuing her boyfriend, offering a bit of a switch-up from the exhausted “man rescues woman” trope. The film also stars Michael Nyqvist (John Wick) as Schafer, the unsettling leader of the cult, whom you can see in the opening of the trailer above. He definitely has some serious cult hair.

The first trailer is a little intense and intriguing, made all the more so by the fact that the film is inspired by true events — Colonia Dignidad was more than just a cult that Schafer oversaw for Pinochet; it also served as a torture camp of sorts.

Here’s the official description of Colonia from TIFF, which hosted the world premiere of the film this week:

A chilling historical thriller, Colonia stars Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl as lovers caught in the crossfire of a murderous military coup — and eventually interned in a dangerous cult’s compound from which there seems to be no escape.

Chile, 1973. Lufthansa flight attendant Lena (Watson) is in Santiago to visit her boyfriend, Daniel (Brühl), a talented graphic artist creating images in support of embattled President Salvador Allende. When Allende is violently ousted, General Augusto Pinochet’s forces begin rounding up dissidents. Daniel is taken to the remote stronghold of Colonia Dignidad (“Dignity Colony”), home to a secret agricultural commune and crypto-fascist sect led by sinister minister Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist). Daniel is interrogated and tortured, but feigns severe mental deterioration to stay alive. Valiant and wily, Lena travels to Colonia and offers herself up to Schäfer as a follower. She is determined to find and free Daniel — but first she must ensure that she herself can survive Schäfer’s crushingly oppressive, viciously misogynistic practices.

A blood-curdling unease pervades Colonia, and we are unable to tear ourselves away. Vividly realized and briskly paced by director Florian Gallenberger (City of War: The Story of John Rabe), the film shifts seamlessly from love story to political drama to something akin to a horror movie, with Watson anchoring every sequence with her dynamic yet completely relatable central performance.

Based on real people, places, and events, and shot through with brilliantly crafted storytelling, Colonia is an unforgettable tale of love and captivity set during one of the Cold War’s darkest chapters.

Colonia does not yet have a US release date.