Jordan Peele has had another dominant year at the movies, with his own film Nope and his company MonkeyPaw Productions behind the satirical Adamma Ebo-directed Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul. Now, he’s lending his production eye — and his voice! — to an animated film in time for Halloween.
The trailer just dropped for the demonic stop motion film Wendell and Wild, which stars long-time comedy duo Keegan-Michael Key and Peele as the titular characters. The film is directed by Henry Selick, of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline fame.
The film chronicles 13-year-old Kat (Lyric Ross), an orphan who’s being released from the juvenile justice system into a Catholic school in her old hometown. “Time to face your demons,” says a green-eyed nun at the beginning of the trailer. As she reckons with her past and evades exploitation in her present, Kat ends up being haunted by Wendell (Key) and Wild (Peele), two demons who begin to manipulate her through her dreams. Ghosts, monsters, exhumed corpses, and all hosts of unsavory characters come out of the woodwork as Kat navigates the spooky world she’s found herself in. Angela Bassett, James Hong, and Natalie Martinez all also co-star.
While the film is certainly meant for Halloween vibes, it’s not straight horror. It has a cheeky macabre humor as well. Selick told Polygon, “A few of the things I don’t want to do: I don’t want to do strong horror. I hate slasher films. I hate realistic horror. But I do like scary stuff. And [this movie] can be pretty damn scary.” The film premieres on October 28 on Netflix.
